


Personal Involvement

by PrinceSircastic



Series: Magnus/Jensen [3]
Category: Wallander (UK TV)
Genre: M/M, Magnus has family issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-04
Updated: 2012-07-19
Packaged: 2017-11-09 04:30:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/451284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrinceSircastic/pseuds/PrinceSircastic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Magnus is back to normal after the events of Under the Radar, and it’s back to business with a new case. However things start to get tense when the victim turns out to be close friends with Magnus’ estranged sister, and he is forced to interact with her once more. Some things are revealed that Magnus would rather his family not know, and it can only go downhill from here. Meanwhile, the case starts looking strange when evidence suggests the victim’s friends weren’t being particularly honest…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The air was crisp and cool and a breeze ruffled Kurt’s hair as he stood upon the beach, hands on his hips as he studied the body before him. A young woman, shirt ripped open and skirt hiked up, her blood staining the sand around her head. He’d already come to the conclusion that it was probably a sexual motive, judging from the state of her clothing. Possibly a date gone wrong, or a random attack and she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nyberg would be able to tell them what the situation was once he had collected his evidence and done an autopsy. 

“She looks young.” Anne-Britt was beside him, and he gave her a quick glance before returning his gaze to the young woman’s body. “Can’t be more than twenty-five.” 

“Young, old, it makes no difference. A life was cruelly taken, and I want to know why.” He replied briskly. Nyberg stepped away from the corpse, straightening up as he handed evidence bags to his assistant. “Nyberg?” 

“I can’t see any signs of sexual assault.” He told them. “The clothing has been torn and yanked, but there’s no bruising, no blood…” He shrugged. “I’ll do proper tests once she’s in the morgue, but from a first glance, no sexual assault involved here.” They all turned at the sound of a car pulling up nearby, and watched as the tall figure of Magnus Martinsson unfolded from the passenger seat. He began to stride towards them but a shout from the car stopped him, and the recognisable form of Jensen Hakansson emerged from the driver’s seat, grasping Magnus’ coat in one hand. 

As they watched, Jensen helped Magnus into his coat, and before he could dash away, caught the curly-haired detective’s hand and tugged him close for a quick kiss. When they parted, Jensen laughed and turned his gaze upon the cops littering the beach – he lifted a hand in a wave and ducked back into the car, driving off a moment later. When Magnus reached them, his cheeks were tinged pink and Anne-Britt was sure it wasn’t from the slight chill in the air. 

“Jensen’s looking well.” She commented with a smile. The last time she had seen him, he’d been lying in a hospital bed recovering from a serious stab wound. She would never forget that moment, nor how Magnus had reacted. Ever since then, she’d found herself having a newfound respect for the young detective. 

“He’s… yeah, he’s fine.” Magnus replied, turning up the collar of his coat as he turned to study the scene. “Do we have an ID on her?” Anne-Britt caught her fond smile before it showed on her face – Magnus was back to normal, it seemed. For a while she had wondered if, after all that had happened, Magnus would be more open with his emotions in front of them, but the second he had come back to work after a few days off, it had been business as usual. As much as she had hoped for a little more trust from him, it was actually a relief to know it hadn’t changed him. 

“Not yet. No ID on her – nothing, actually. Killer probably took her bag when he left her.” Kurt sighed. “It’s unlikely she went out at night without even a set of keys on her, so we’ve searched the immediate area for a purse or jacket, but so far nothing.” 

“We’ll probably have to rely on fingerprint ID. I’ll get the evidence back to the station and run her fingerprints, see if I can get you an ID within the next hour.” Nyberg told them as the woman was loaded onto a stretcher and into a body bag, to be taken back to the morgue. Kurt gave him a nod and turned to his team. 

“Okay. Magnus, I want you to do another sweep of the scene – you have the best eyes for clues, it seems.” Magnus couldn’t help his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. He certainly hadn’t expected  _that_. Kurt seemed to catch himself, and awkwardly cleared his throat. “Based on experience, I mean.” They all knew he was referring to the last case when Magnus had managed to find some rather crucial evidence at a crime scene, which led them to tracking down the killer. “Anne-Britt, I want you back at the station with Nyberg. Report straight to me the second he gets a name.” She nodded and turned, striding off to follow Nyberg. “I’ll do the rounds for witnesses.” He strode off, gesturing for a couple of uniforms to stick with Magnus – he was slightly irked by that, feeling like he was forced under the supervision of babysitters, but he chose not to argue against it. Maybe the uniforms could learn a thing or two, anyway. 

He did a quick sweep of the area with his eyes, and then strolled around the scene –being careful where to tread – scanning every inch of the sand. Beaches were the worst for preserving evidence, so he knew it was unlikely he was going to find anything here, but he still had to check. After the initial sweep he moved further out, checking the nearby reeds. It took him another twenty minutes before he declared the scene evidence-free, and just as he was giving orders to the uniforms to keep the scene cordoned off until further notice, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Without checking the called ID, he flipped it open. 

“Martinsson.” He muttered, irritated from the pointless search he’d just done. 

_“Tough day already?”_  He couldn’t help the quick smile from forming on his face as Jensen’s smooth, deep voice sounded on the other end. 

“Not exactly. Just stuck at a crime scene with no evidence so I’ll have nothing to give to Kurt when I next see him. That’ll go down well.” He sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. 

_“I’m sure he’ll understand.”_   Magnus scoffed. 

“You’ve met Kurt, right?” He muttered, strolling onto the road towards Kurt’s car. Since Jensen had given him a lift down to the scene he didn’t have his own transportation back to the station, which meant he’d be forced to hitch a ride with Kurt. “He’ll probably act like I’m useless and insist he can do better himself.” 

_“Then give him a reason not to. C’mon, babe, I know you. You’re a good cop, you’ll find something.”_  It warmed his heart to hear Jensen talk about him like that, but he doubted he could find  _anything_  here.  _“Anyway, I was just checking in to tell you I’m gonna be late back tonight. I didn’t realise how out of control this department is…”_  

“That’s okay. I have a feeling I’ll be stuck at the station over this case anyway.” He smiled, leaning against Kurt’s car. Since the case that had exposed Bjorn’s dirty drug dealing, all those who had been involved had been fired immediately (and most of them were doing time on top of that), and the department had been temporarily shut down whilst the drugs were removed and the building searched thoroughly. When Jensen had recovered, they had handed over the department to him, hired new staff, and now the blond was in control of getting everything up and running again. 

_“Shall I fetch a take-out on the way home?”_  Since his release from hospital, Jensen had been spending more and more time at Magnus’ apartment – not that he minded, of course, and when they weren’t at his place, they were at Jensen’s.  _“I can stop by that nice Italian place you like so much.”_

“That sounds nice, yeah.” He tilted his head back, squinting up at the sky for a moment. “I’ll give you a call or something when I’m done.” Rubbing a hand over his face now, he turned his gaze back to the beach. “I should probably go, Kurt will be back from interviewing people soon-,” he cut off as his eyes found something in the reeds quite far from the crime scene, and he frowned, stepping closer as he tried to work out what it was. 

_“What is it? Found something?”_  He could practically hear the smug smile on Jensen’s face, but he chose to ignore it. 

“Maybe. I’m not sure.” He strode over, and crouched down to inspect it. He quickly glanced around for something he could use to prod at it, just in case it was evidence, and he found a short, thin stick lying half-buried in the sand a few paces away. Returning to the object – it was white, and thin, but otherwise impossible to identify – he nudged at it, disturbing the sand slightly. “It might be nothing.” He blinked as he managed to hook the white thing over the stick, and he tugged, disturbing more sand – and revealing a small, white handbag. “Or it could be everything. Okay, I really have to go.” 

_“Told you. That’s my cop.”_  Magnus rolled his eyes.  _“Alright, I’ll let you do your job. I love you, babe.”_  There was a long pause, and Magnus tensed, before sighing. 

“…I’m not saying it.” He muttered, feeling embarrassed even though there was no one around to hear the conversation. 

_“Well I’m not hanging up until you do.”_ He hated that cocky tone of his, but he also loved it at the same time. 

“And what if I hang up?” He raised an eyebrow, tossing the stick aside as he inspected the bag. 

_“I’ll just call you again until you_ do _say it.”_  Magnus didn’t even doubt that he would, either, so he sighed, closing his eyes for a moment as he took a deep breath. 

“… Fine.” He muttered. “I love you, too.” He knew Jensen was grinning, and he rolled his eyes as he hung up and slipped his phone back into his pocket. 

“Found something?” Magnus jumped at the unexpected voice behind him, and he ended up sprawled on his backside in the sand, glaring up at Kurt, who had somehow managed to sneak up on him. Kurt didn’t smile – simply raised an eyebrow, and Magnus stood up, brushing sand from his jeans. 

“Looks like it could be the victim’s bag.” He muttered, part of him wondering how much of his conversation Kurt had overheard. “I haven’t touched it, don’t worry.” Kurt turned and signalled to some of the uniforms still milling about the scene. He spoke with one quietly and then handed Magnus a camera. Rolling his eyes, because he  _always_  had to do _everything_ , Magnus took the camera and snapped some photos quickly before reaching to pick up the bag, tugging his sleeves down over his hands to avoid covering it with his prints. 

“Check for any ID.” Kurt told him. 

“I know how to do my job, Kurt.” Magnus snapped back before he could stop himself, unzipping the bag and checking inside for any form of ID. He pulled out a purse and opened it up, spotting a driver’s licence in one of the slots. “Alright, here we go. Anna Sjogren, twenty-three years of age.” He turned the card to show Kurt. “It’s our victim.” 

“So the bag was taken and dumped, or she dropped it trying to escape her attacker.” Kurt murmured. “Okay. Let’s head back to the station, give this to Nyberg. It’s unlikely, but if the killer took it from her, there might be some prints.” Magnus slotted the purse back inside the bag and zipped it up again as Kurt led the way back to his car. “I’ll notify Anne-Britt, get her to find the next of kin. We need to know where she was last night, and who she was with.” 

— 

They made a detour on the way to the station when Anne-Britt phoned in to give them Anna’s address – she was still living at home, which meant there were parents to inform. Magnus let Kurt take the lead, shifting awkwardly as the mother broke down into tears. When Kurt faltered in his words, Magnus stepped in and asked if they knew where Anna had been last night, and who she had been with. Though the mother was almost incoherent through her sobs, the father gave them the basic outline of a typical girls’ night out – Anna had met up with a group of friends, and had phoned home at around 10:30pmto inform her parents that she’d be later home than she expected. When Kurt asked for the names of the friends, the father began to list them, and Magnus started jotting them down – but he froze at the final name.  _Olivia Martinsson_. Kurt didn’t seem to notice, and gave the standard line (“I’m sorry for your loss”), and then they were leaving. It wasn’t until they were comfortably seated in the car once more that Kurt turned to him. 

“Olivia Martinsson.” He murmured. “Any relation? You tensed up a little at the mention of her.” Magnus sighed – so he  _had_  noticed. 

“Unless there’s more than one Olivia Martinsson in Ystad…” He muttered. “Then we’re dealing with my sister.” He stared down at the name he’d jotted down beneath the others. 

“I didn’t know you had a sister.” Kurt commented as he drove them back to the station. Magnus scoffed. 

“Of course you didn’t. You don’t know anything about anyone, Kurt. You only know Anne-Britt has children because she talks about them.” He didn’t care if he was being rude or disrespectful. The mere mention of his family had sent him spiralling into a vicious mood. Kurt chose not to respond to that, which was probably for the best, and so they finished the rest of the trip in tense silence. Nyberg and Anne-Britt were waiting for them in their office when they arrived. 

“Cause of death was a hard blow to the head.” Nyberg started talking the second the door was closed behind them. Kurt leant on the table he and Anne-Britt were seated at, whilst Magnus pushed past them to strip off his coat and slump into his chair, scowling at the phone. He knew he had to ask the three girls to come into the station to answer questions, but that would involve calling his sister, and he really didn’t want to do that. “Confirmed that there was no sexual assault involved. Minimal bruising on the wrists, suggests they were pinned down or she had her arms restrained in some other fashion, and she has some abrasions on her shins, most likely from a fall.” 

“She ran.” Kurt murmured. “From whoever killed her.” He sighed. “The parents gave us the names of who she was with last night. Magnus, find the contact details for them and hand them to Anne-Britt – I want you to call them in. I want this to be casual, since we’re just looking for information. We’ll interview them as a group.” It didn’t take Magnus long to find the contact details for Rita Johansson and Agneta Ek, and he sighed as he scrolled through his contacts to find the number for his sister. Once he had compiled the details, he handed it over to Anne-Britt, thankful that Kurt wasn’t going to make  _him_  call them in. Anne-Britt moved to her desk and picked up the phone, dialling the first number, whilst Kurt turned his gaze to Nyberg. “We found her bag, about ten or eleven feet from where the body was found. Run it for prints, fibres, the usual.” As Nyberg nodded and took the bag, leaving the office to head down to the lab, Kurt strolled over to Magnus’ desk and studied him for a moment, until Magnus got annoyed. 

“What? No tedious paperwork to force upon me?” He growled, twirling a pencil around in one hand. Kurt sighed. 

“Magnus, you need to watch your attitude.” He warned him. “Are you going to be able to be professional here, or do I need to take you off the case?” Magnus felt anger rise up, but he forced it back. 

“You don’t need to take me off the case, Kurt.” He muttered through gritted teeth. “I’ll be fine.” 

“Alright. Do not make me regret the decision to keep you involved, Magnus.” With that said, Kurt moved to his own desk to wait until the young women arrived for questioning. When Anne-Britt replaced the phone for the final time, she glanced over at Magnus briefly. 

“Rita’s on her way, and Agneta said she would stop by and pick up Olivia on her way. Estimated time is probably half an hour. They all seemed very distraught.” She told him and Kurt. 

“Well, that’s to be expected.” Kurt murmured, scrolling through his emails idly. 

“Magnus… I have to ask…” Anne-Britt began, the sheet of paper with the details still in her hand. 

“Yes, Olivia Martinsson is my sister.” He sighed, frustrated. 

“Oh, I didn’t-,” 

“Know I had a sister. Yeah, I know. No one knew.” He stood up sharply. “Because I never told anyone, and no one ever asked. Big surprise there.” He strode to the windows, hands stuffed deep into his pockets as he glared out at the city around him. His hands clenched into fists, shoulders tensing with anger as he tried to push the thought of his sister out of his mind. 

They had been very close when they were young. Olivia had clung to him when she was a toddler, followed him around wherever he went, and he hadn’t minded. He’d loved his little sister, and he loved the way she admired him. He was her brave big brother, and that made him feel good. They kept their close relationship right up until Magnus hit thirteen, and their father first brought up the subject of his future career. 

Markus Martinsson was a big name in the police, Chief Superintendent of the force, and there was only one option for his only son: he was going to follow in his footsteps. The only trouble was – Magnus had had no intention of ever being a police officer. At thirteen, however, there was no way he was going to speak up against his rather intimidating father, and so he simply said nothing, and gradually he grew more distant from his sister. By the time he had finished school and was preparing to choose his area of study for further education, he and his sister were no longer close at all. They fought day and night, often rather viciously, and would go for weeks without speaking to one another. 

After the big fight that estranged Magnus from his father – and which resulted in him attending the police academy against his wishes – Magnus moved out of the family home, and didn’t speak to any of them for almost two years. When he received his badge, he attempted contact with them a final time, and after listening to his father go on and on about how Olivia was going to go far in life, how successful she was going to be, and how disappointed he was in Magnus, he decided to leave and never go back. 

He occasionally got a phone call from his father – he never answered, but now and then he would listen to the messages he left – but they were always the same. Half an hour of how disappointed he was in him, how he was disgracing the family name, and how Olivia was doing so much better than he was, how successful she was, how proud she made the family. 

Magnus hadn’t spoken to Olivia in almost five years. 

He turned from the window as he heard the door open somewhere behind him, and he tensed as he saw a uniformed officer speaking with Kurt – and three young women waiting in the hall behind him. Had it really been half an hour?! He met Anne-Britt’s eyes and she gave him a sympathetic smile that he decided he didn’t like, and he distracted himself by running a hand through his hair, focusing his gaze on the women in the hall. 

One was tall, thin and blonde – Rita – and from the streaks down her face, she’d been crying very recently. Stood next to her, grasping her arm, was a shorter woman with short, choppy black hair – Agneta – eyes wide as if she couldn’t quite believe she was here. And the last… Olivia had barely changed since the last time he’d seen her. She was taller than he remembered, but that was to be expected, and her hair was straighter, and much longer. Whilst the two of them had both inherited their father’s blond-brown curls, her hair had always straightened out as it grew longer – which led Magnus to believe his would do the same, though he never wanted to test it out. Especially now, when he had someone who seemed to be utterly fascinated by his curly hair. 

“Magnus, Anne-Britt, I want you both in with me.” Kurt told them, then turned back to the uniform, giving him orders to take the women into the next room. “Magnus… I need you to be professional here.” 

“Oh don’t worry, Kurt. My sister’s a stranger to me.” He muttered, leading the way into the next room, where the young women were now seated, ready. He ignored the surprised gasp from Olivia, and took his seat alongside Anne-Britt. 

“You have all been made aware that Anna Sjogren was found dead this morning out on the beach.” Kurt began, and the tall blonde let out a choked sob. “We have reason to believe she was murdered some time last night, or in the early hours of the morning. Any information you can give us will help find who killed her, and bring them to justice. Now… can you tell us where you went last night, who you spoke to, and if you saw Anna leave with anyone strange?” Rita was obviously not going to answer, and so Agneta and Olivia exchanged a glance, before Olivia sighed. 

“We were celebrating.” She started. “I was recently promoted to a senior partner in my company,” Magnus didn’t miss the smirk she sent his way, though he pretended not to have seen it, “and Anna had just passed her theatre course. So we went out to celebrate. We just hit the clubs, y’know? Moved from one to another whenever we got bored.” She shrugged. “We talked to a few guys, yeah, and Agneta got a couple of numbers, but none of us went off with anyone. As for Anna, well… she wasn’t like that. She’d never have gone off on her own with a stranger.” 

“Are you sure about that?” Magnus cut in. 

“Positive.” Olivia snapped back, and for a moment there was a tense silence where brother and sister eyed each other warily, sizing each other up. Sensing trouble, Anne-Britt cleared her throat. 

“Did you notice anyone giving her unwanted attention at all?” She asked the women. This time, it was Agneta who spoke up, as Olivia was too busy glaring at Magnus. 

“No, not really… I mean some guys kept coming over to chat us up, and Anna kept rejecting this one guy but… he gave up eventually.” She shrugged. “And anyway, that was in the first club, right at the beginning of the night.” 

“So you’re telling me there was no one suspicious?” Kurt sighed. 

“Wait…” Rita spoke up, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue she’d produced out of nowhere. “There was one guy. He didn’t come over but I noticed he kept staring over at us. He didn’t ever seem to look away. Like… he kinda freaked me out a bit.” 

“Can you give us a description?” Kurt asked, and Anne-Britt prepared her notebook. 

“Well, it was dark, but… I’d say dark hair? Probably tall, and skinny. Like, there was no muscle filling out the tight shirt he was wearing. But that’s all. Like I said, he never came over.” 

“It’s okay, Rita. At least now we can ask around to see if anyone spotted him and Anna.” He gave her an awkward smile. “So what happened at the end of the night? Why was Anna alone?” 

“Well,” it was Olivia who spoke now, finally turning away from Magnus, “Agneta ended up drinking too much and needed to go home, so Rita offered to get in a taxi with her and take her home. I was going to share a taxi with Anna but she said she’d rather walk the three blocks home so she could sober up on the way. I didn’t see any harm in letting her go, so we went our separate ways.” 

“Does Anna’s route usually swing by the beach? Did she have a reason to be out there?” Anne-Britt asked, pen poised over her notebook. 

“No. Anna hates going out there at night by herself.” 

“Okay, thank you. I think that’s all we need for now, but we may need to ask you more questions later.” Kurt stood, and Anne-Britt followed his example. “I’m sorry for your loss, and thank you for your co-operation.” 

“Anything to help find Anna’s killer.” Agneta muttered sadly, leading Rita out of the room. Olivia paused by the door, and turned to look at Magnus. 

“Might I have a word with Mr Martinsson?” She inquired, and despite Magnus’ warning look, Kurt gave a brief nod. Cursing under his breath, he strode out into the hall. 

“What, Olivia? I’ve got work to do, make this quick.” He growled, crossing his arms over his chest. Olivia rolled her eyes. 

“Oh, I’m sure.” She murmured coolly. “I’m sure those phones won’t answer themselves.” His fists clenched tightly, and he forced himself to calm down. “Anyway… dad’s pretty pissed with you.” 

“Now there’s a surprise.” 

“Shut up, Magnus.” She snapped. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to this family? What kind of Martinsson has a break down like that  _in public_?! I mean really…” Magnus tensed – how the hell had she known about that? He was, of course, assuming she was referring to the mental breakdown he’d had when Jensen had been dying on the floor of the storeroom, the breakdown several uniforms had witnessed. He should have expected the news to reach his father eventually. 

“Oh don’t give me that shit, Olivia. You know very well I don’t care what our father thinks. If that’s all you have to talk to me about, I’m going to get back to work.” He turned, intending to head back into the office, but Olivia caught his arm. 

“What the hell was all that about, anyway?” She demanded. 

“It’s none of your damn business, Olivia, okay? I think I made that very clear the last time we had a little ‘family reunion’. Father wants nothing to do with me, and I certainly want nothing to do with any of you.” He wrenched his arm free. “My life is mine to live, and I want you and father out of it. Once I am done with this case, I fully expect you to go back to not talking to me again.” 

“You were the one who walked out on this family! You were the one who wanted to be a damn  _dancer_ , Magnus!” His cheeks burned with embarrassment, knowing his colleagues could hear the conversation now that she was yelling. 

“And precious daddy didn’t want his only son to be a dancer, I know! But guess what, Olivia, I didn’t want to be a fucking policeman! I didn’t want to be like your precious daddy, and he still forced me into this fucking job!” He snapped back. “And since when have you cared about me or my life, Olivia? You want to know why I had a fucking breakdown, huh? Because the man I love was fucking  _dying_!” Olivia stopped dead, her eyebrows shooting up in a familiar expression that everyone had seen on Magnus’ face so often. 

“The… the man you  _what_?” 

… Shit.


	2. Chapter 2

Magnus stood, facing his sister, trying to work out if there was any way he could fix what he’d just done – of course, there wasn’t. He’d said it, she’d heard it, and there was no way he could change that. Useless thinking of a way out now, really. Better to just face up to it. He studied his sister for a moment. As children they had been so alike, the same face, the same eyes, the same bronze curls – if Olivia had been taller, they might have been confused for twins quite easily. Things changed when both of them had gone through puberty, however. Magnus’ face had sharpened, his sharp cheekbones making themselves known, whereas Olivia kept her softer features, beginning to look more like Lili-ann, their mother. The family resemblance was still obvious, but they were no longer so alike – except for their eyes. Olivia still had the same stormy eyes as he did, and now those stormy eyes were wide with surprise as they stared hard at him. 

“You heard me.” He murmured, willing his voice to sound as strong as he wanted it to. 

“Oh, yeah, I heard you.” She shook her head slowly. “I can’t… seriously? You?” Magnus scowled now, anger boiling in his gut. 

“What in the hell is that supposed to mean, Olivia?” He hissed, but she simply waved a hand dismissively. 

“I’m going to do us both a favour and leave, right now.” She told him, turning away from him. “You’ve changed, Magnus. Too much. You’re nothing like the brother I used to adore.” 

“No, I’m not. I’m not a fucking pushover anymore.” He snapped at her, and she turned slightly to look him up and down. 

“Really? Because you’re still at the bottom of the ladder here, Magnus, and you don’t seem to be climbing at all. Dad keeps in touch with the lads, you know. He’s kept informed. Your colleagues walk all over you and you don’t do anything about it. You will always be a pushover Magnus, a doormat for everyone above you to wipe their feet on. That’s never going to change.” She shook her head again. “I’ll offer any help I can in finding Anna’s killer, but after the case is closed, you won’t be seeing me again.” With that said, she stalked off down the corridor, leaving Magnus standing there staring after her, a mixture of anger and pain in his eyes. Inside the office, Anne-Britt and Kurt exchanged a look, both equally concerned about the conversation they’d just overheard. 

Magnus, snapping out of the trance he seemed to have slipped into with Olivia’s departure, turned and flung open the door to the office, his fury seeping out as the door slammed back on itself. Magnus slumped down hard into his chair, aiming to distract himself with some mindless work – but there was nothing for him to do, so he ended up picking up his pencil, only to toss it down in anger a second later. 

“Magnus-,” Kurt began, but he stopped as Magnus turned on him, eyes blazing with anger. 

“What, Kurt? What is it? What could you  _possibly_  have to say to me?” He stood again, facing Kurt. He knew he should stop, he should sit back down and find  _something_  to do, but he couldn’t stop the anger. “You – you who never fucking appreciates anything I do for you! You give me all the shit work you and the others don’t want to do, and then when I bring you results I don’t even get a fucking thank you! I  _saved your life_ , Kurt. I saved your  _daughter’s_ life, and you didn’t say a goddamn word to me!” Kurt backed off a little, averted his gaze, but Magnus wasn’t done. Not yet. “You know what? Olivia was right. You do walk all over me. You walk all over me and I can’t stand it any longer, Kurt! So if you really don’t fucking want me here then say so and I’ll  _leave_!” 

There was a heavy silence following his words. Anne-Britt slowly sank into her chair, hand covering her mouth as she glanced between Magnus and Kurt in turn, trying to judge the situation. Magnus was seething – she could see his hands, clenched into fists, shaking at his sides. Kurt looked stunned, and if she looked closely there was a hint of guilt. In all fairness, Magnus wasn’t wrong, and it pained her to admit it, but had any of them really shown Magnus any sort of appreciation?  

“Magnus, sit down. Please.” Kurt said quietly, gesturing to the chair Magnus had sprung up from. When Magnus didn’t move, Kurt sighed. “I understand you had a tense moment with your sister out there, but-,” 

“Don’t you dare try and shrug me off now, Kurt.” Magnus warned, his tone dangerous. “Because I will fucking walk out of here and not come back.” 

“Do you want to leave the team?” Kurt asked him, finally meeting his eyes. “Is that what you want, Magnus? We heard you out there – you never wanted this job. You didn’t want to be a part of the police force, but your father forced you into it. We’ve all been able to tell that you’re not happy, so if being here makes you so miserable then why don’t you leave and do what you  _want_  to do?” 

“Because this is all I know.” Magnus growled. “Because joining this team was a final ‘fuck you’ to my father and if I quit that means he  _wins_.” He sighed, feeling himself calm down a little. “No. Part of me wants to leave, yeah, but I can’t. We… we do good work here.” It was a pathetic line, and he knew it. “Look, all I’m asking is for a little acknowledgement when I actually do something good. Just a… ‘good job, Magnus’ now and then. It’s not so hard, is it?” 

“No, Magnus, it isn’t.” Kurt agreed. “And you’re right, of course. I didn’t thank you, not properly. Not vocally. But you  _did_  save Linda and I, and at a cost. I know how the shooting affected you.” 

“I’m fine.” He cut in, quickly. 

“Regardless – thank you, Magnus.” He gave him a nod, and Magnus sighed and slumped in his chair once again. “Now, do you need to take a moment, maybe an hour or two, or can you work the case?” 

“I can work the case. I need the distraction.” He muttered. Kurt gave a brief nod. 

“Good. Then I want you to work the clubs, take Anna’s picture and the description of the man Rita saw watching them. Talk to the owners, and any staff you can. Get the security tapes of any outside cameras. We know when Anna left to meet up with the girls, so we have a rough idea of when to start looking through the footage.” Kurt paused, thinking something over. “Anne-Britt, find out which taxi company the girls used, and which drivers were on call for them. Could be one of them saw something when they picked up their passengers.” 

“You want me out of the station.” Magnus muttered, gathering the photo of Anna and Anne-Britt’s notes on the man Rita described. 

“I want you working an angle I know you’ll be good at.” Kurt corrected. “You notice things. You can pick up on hesitations, that sort of thing, and you’ll be good with the footage, too. I’m letting you play to your strengths here, Magnus.” Magnus wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, and so he simply stood, grabbed his coat, and was on his way to the door when he remembered that his car was still parked outside his apartment. He now had two options – walk down to the nearest clubs in town and make his way everywhere on foot, or walk home and pick up his car. 

— 

He ended up going for the second option. He called up Agneta on the walk to his apartment and asked if she could give him a list of places they definitely visited – more importantly, the name of the last place they’d been in before going their separate ways. He jotted down the names, thanked her, and hung up just as he reached his car. He patted down his pockets before he remembered that his keys were still in his apartment, and he turned towards the building, intending to fetch them. His phone buzzed in his hand and he glanced down at the caller ID, scowling when it flashed up with ‘Home’. He shoved the phone back into his pocket without answering, and let himself into his apartment to grab his car keys. 

His phone buzzed again as he climbed into his car, and he flipped it open, hit ‘reject call’ and put it back into his pocket. He knew ‘Home’ meant his mother was calling him, which meant Olivia had already reported back about him. Brilliant. It was only a matter of time before his father attempted to contact him. He turned his attention to the case, driving quickly to the first club on the list he had, and he found a place to park. A handful of these clubs were in the same area, so he could walk between them, and then return to his car for the remaining few. 

The first three clubs he tried couldn’t help him – they didn’t remember Anna or her friends, and though they handed over copies of the security tapes, Magnus doubted he’d find much of worth on them. He moved on, slowly making his way through the list, but little progress was made. One of the bar staff in  _Heat_  recognised Anna’s picture, but she couldn’t give any more information. 

Now with a stack of security tapes in labelled bags, Magnus headed back to his car, intending to drive to the last couple of clubs a block or so over. He doubted he’d get any further, but Kurt would complain if he didn’t even try, and so he slumped behind the wheel of his car once more. His phone buzzed again and he didn’t even bother glancing at it – if it was from the station, they’d call again or leave a message, which he would check once he was parked outside the next club. 

He didn’t end up checking his phone after all, which he knew was probably a mistake, but right now he just wanted to get this over with. He buzzed into the building, waiting for the owner to answer. The one issue with working the club angle was down to timing – most places didn’t open until the evening, and often the owners didn’t arrive until late afternoon. He’d been lucky so far, thankfully, but he’d been kept waiting by a handful of them and his patience was running thin. 

“Can I help you, sir?” The woman who appeared in the doorway was young, covered in tattoos and piercings and wearing far too much eyeliner in Magnus’ opinion. He pushed aside his thoughts on her appearance and held up his badge. 

“Magnus Martinsson, Ystad police. Can I talk to you for a few minutes?” He used his most polite tone, and she gave a nod and beckoned him inside. 

“So, what do the police want with me, hm?” She asked, striding over to the bar and sliding over it to stand behind it. Magnus raised an eyebrow but said nothing. 

“Just doing some investigating into the murder of a young woman who visited this establishment the night she died.” He took out Anna’s photo and placed it on the bar top. “Recognise her? She was with three friends, all female.” 

“Hm…” The woman leant over the bar, studying the photo. “I sorta recognise her, but I can’t be too sure.” She straightened up, pondered something. “Three friends, you say? One tall and blonde, another shorter, dark hair?” Magnus raised his eyebrows in surprise. 

“Yes, actually. You remember them?” He asked, bringing out his notebook, believing he might finally make some progress. 

“Sure. I mean, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed them if it weren’t for that other girl they were with.” She shrugged. “She got right up in this one guy’s face, caused a bit of a disturbance.” Magnus frowned now. 

“Oh?” Olivia hadn’t mentioned  _that_. “What happened?” 

“No idea. She was pretty pissed, though. Looked ready to sock this guy in the mouth, but the short dark-haired girl got between them and she stalked off to the bathroom. The guy left pretty quickly.” 

“Can you describe him for me?” 

“Sure. Quite tall, pretty skinny, dark hair in a ponytail. Nothing special about him, really. I didn’t bother asking what the problem was since it appeared to sort itself out.” Magnus jotted the information down and nodded. 

“Thanks. You have outside security cameras here?” At her nod, he tucked his notebook away. “I’m going to need copies of the tapes.” 

“Yeah, sure thing. Just give me a minute.” She beckoned for him to follow her, and he did so cautiously. “Wait… did you say your name was Magnus?” She glanced at him over her shoulder. 

“Yes, why?” He frowned, curious. She grinned. 

“Oh my god… I knew I recognised you!” She laughed, dropping into a chair in a back room. The desk she now sat at contained several TV screens, and he assumed this was the security control room. 

“Uh, have we met…?” 

“Not exactly, no.” She smirked, putting in a couple of tapes to copy the footage over for him. “But I’ve seen you around.” She sat back in the chair and turned to flash him another grin. “I’m one of Jensen’s neighbours.” 

“…Oh.” Instantly the mood shifted, and he dragged a hand through his hair, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. She laughed a little, crossing one leg over the other – his eyes were drawn momentarily to the large PVC boots she wore as the light caught the shiny material. He tried to think back, wondering if he could place her in his memory, but he couldn’t remember ever seeing her. 

“I was just coming back from work when I saw you saying goodbye to him, sometime last week.” Magnus fought the urge to blush now – ‘saying goodbye’ had most likely involved a quick, passionate kiss with wandering hands, and he didn’t much like it when people witnessed his displays of affection. 

“Oh, right.” He shifted uncomfortably, and she laughed – a friendly laugh, not mocking. 

“He talks a lot about you, y’know, and I gotta say… you’re pretty good for him.” She shrugged. “He’s a lot happier lately, and I’ve noticed it’s since you appeared in his life.” 

“Good for him?” Magnus scoffed. “I nearly got him killed. I’d hardly say that was good for him.” 

“Did you hold the knife?” She cut in, and he frowned. 

“What? No, of course not!” 

“Did you send him into the building?” 

“No! But-,” 

“Then you’re not at fault.” She shrugged. “Jensen’s a stubborn bastard when he wants to be, Magnus. You couldn’t have stopped it from happening.” She turned as the tapes finished copying and handed them over to him. “Here you go. Should be everything, but if they cut off anywhere just let me know and I’ll get the stuff that’s missing.” 

“Thanks.” He took the tapes, placed them into a bag and sealed it, quickly jotting down the name of the club on the label. “If you remember anything else about the women or anything suspicious in the club, let me know.” He gave her a card with his details on it, and she flashed him a grin. 

“Sure, will do.” She told him. “By the way, you probably already know this since you’re a cop and all, but… name’s Hanna.” He had known, she was right, but he understood the meaning behind her offering her name. 

“Nice to meet you, Hanna.” He wasn’t sure if ‘nice’ was the appropriate word, considering how awkward and uncomfortable he now felt, but it was the polite thing to say and if Magnus knew anything, it was how to be polite even in awkward situations. 

He left the club and walked briskly to the final place – this was the last club they’d been in, according to Agneta, and so he hoped he’d find something here. He was playing over the information Hanna had supplied him, wondering why Olivia had failed to mention her interaction with the unknown male, especially since he’d somewhat fit the description Rita had given them. Could be a coincidence, and for all he knew the guy could have been a boyfriend, or an ex-boyfriend, or whatever. He didn’t make a habit of keeping in touch with Olivia’s life in any way. 

The manager of the club wasn’t in the building when he buzzed in, but one of the bar staff took a message and gave him a number to try for home. He wasn’t happy about giving him copies of the tapes without checking with his boss, first, but Magnus’ insistence and the fact that he was a homicide cop pushed him into handing them over. Magnus thanked him, and began the walk back to his car. 

His phone buzzed again and he sighed, reaching into his pocket for it. He glanced at the caller ID and breathed a sigh of relief when it flashed up ‘Wallander’, and he answered. 

“Martinsson.” 

_“I need you back at the station.”_  

“On my way back now.” Magnus told him, fumbling for the keys to his car. “Something come up?” 

_“We’ve got an Alrik Olander here, claiming to have information about Anna. He vaguely fits the description Rita Johansson gave us.”_  Magnus thought back to Hanna’s statement about the man seen arguing with Olivia. 

“I’ll be there in twenty.” 

— 

“Magnus Martinsson, entering Interview 2 at13:25.” 

Kurt was seated at the table in the room, across from a young man matching the description Hanna had given Magnus – tall, skinny, with long dark hair pulled into a ponytail. Magnus took the seat beside Kurt, and gave him a nod as a signal to continue the interview. 

“Alrik, this is Magnus, a member of my team. Please, tell him what you told me upon arrival.” Alrik cleared his throat and fidgeted slightly – he was nervous, that much was obvious. 

“Look, I came here as soon as I heard.” He said quickly, voice betraying his nerves more than his body language was. “Rita called me up, see, crying her heart out because Anna had been killed, and… well I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. I know the police are always looking for witnesses or anyone with information, so I came in straight away. I was sorta with the girls last night, see…” 

“When and where?” Magnus prompted. 

“Oh, well it would have been quite late, um… I don’t know, about midnight?” He ran a hand over his hair, shifted in his seat. “I was in  _Pulse_  at the time, with a couple of friends, and I saw the girls so I went over to talk to them.” Magnus concealed his smile –  _Pulse_  was where Hanna worked. 

“Was it a friendly interaction, Alrik?” He asked, keeping his voice level. Alrik fidgeted again. 

“Sure. I mean, I know them quite well. I used to date Rita, but we broke things off mutually about a year ago and stayed in touch.” Alrik shrugged. 

“Really? Because I have a witness statement from one Hanna Ahlstrom, who works at _Pulse_ , who said she saw you in a heated argument with one of Anna’s friends.” Magnus murmured casually, and watched Alrik fidget again. 

“Alright, yeah, okay…” He sighed. “It started out friendly. I just wanted to say hi, see how things were going, y’know? But then that  _bitch_ , Olivia, had to get in my face.” Magnus ignored the sidelong glance Kurt sent his way, kept his features schooled into an impassive expression. “She never liked me, even when Rita and I were dating.” 

“What did you argue about?” Kurt asked.

“She told me to take a hike, that I wasn’t wanted there, and honestly I felt I had a right to talk to a friend in a club so I told her she could bite me and to back the hell off. That one’s vicious, though. She got right in my face, threatened to get physical with me if I didn’t leave them alone, and I told her she had no right to talk to me like that. Bitch tried to strike me then, but I backed away just in time, and then Agneta stepped in and calmed her down. She stormed off somewhere so I said a quick goodbye to Rita and went back to my friends, and we left the club. I didn’t want her coming over to cause more trouble, see.” Alrik glanced at Magnus. “I didn’t think it was relevant, since I didn’t have the fight with Anna. That’s usually how things work right – it’s all about the victim?” 

“Every detail is important, Alrik.” Kurt muttered, glancing at Magnus again. “Did you see them again after you left the club?” 

“Sorta, yeah. Rita called me about an hour or so later, to apologise for Olivia. I told her it was no big deal, that I’m used to her being a bitch to me. Anyway, we got talking – it sounded like she was outside, ‘cause I could hear music but it wasn’t too loud – and she tells me there’s this guy freaking her out in the club. Said he kept staring over at them every time she looked his way. I told her to confront him but she said there was no chance of that, and that they were probably going to head home soon anyway ‘cause Agneta had overdone it a little.” 

“And what happened then?” 

“I asked her if she wanted me to head over there. I mean, you hear about all sorts of creeps stalking girls they see in clubs, so I was worried about her. She sounded unsure, ‘cause of Olivia, and said she’d call me again if things got worse.” 

“And did she?” 

“Yeah, about half an hour later. I could hear Agneta and Anna in the background, but no Olivia, so I asked what was going on. She told me they were waiting for a taxi to head home, and she sounded a little freaked. I asked if the guy was still bothering her and she said she hadn’t seen him since they left the club.” Alrik shrugged again. “I figured it was just some lonely guy, y’know? Anyway I asked if she wanted me to wait with them and she hesitated a little before telling me she was a little worried about Anna walking home on her own. Apparently Olivia was gonna taxi-share with her but Anna had insisted she wanted to walk, so Olivia had already left.” 

“Did you go to them?” 

“Yeah, I did. I got there just as Rita and Agneta were getting into a taxi. Rita told me Anna had started walking and that she was really worried about her being on her own, so I told her I’d see if I could find her.” He fidgeted again. “She’d gotten pretty far by then, so it took me a few minutes to catch up. I caught her by surprise, and I could tell she was a bit tense. I asked her if she wanted me to walk with her, told her Rita had told me about the guy in the club, but she assured me she’d be fine. She said she was gonna take the route down past the bars, instead of the shortcut down through the dark alleys. I wasn’t convinced, but she seemed really certain of herself, so I told her to give Rita a call when she got home or something, and I left her.” 

“And that was the last you saw of her?” 

“Yeah. I just… when Rita told me Anna was dead, I felt so guilty. Like, I should have walked her home, y’know? I should have gone with her even though she said she’d be fine.” He dropped his head into his hands, and although it could have been faked, something told Kurt his grief and guilt were genuine. 

“Can you confirm your whereabouts between the hours of2amand6am, Alrik?” He still had to ask, even if his gut was telling him Alrik wasn’t their suspect. 

“When I left Anna I went back to find my friends. We stayed at  _2350_  until it closed around3am, and then I got in a taxi with Mathias – we live on the same street, so we always share – and we went home. I got in and gave Rita a call around 4, but she didn’t pick up. I guess part of me wanted to check that Anna had gotten home okay, y’know? But Rita was probably asleep so I just went to bed.” 

“We’re going to need the names of your friends, just to check your alibi.” Magnus cut in, and Alrik looked surprised for a moment. 

“What? Oh, yeah… of course. I was the last person to see Anna alive, I guess, so of course I’d be a suspect. Sure.” He gave them the names of his friends, and their numbers. 

“One last thing before we can let you go, Alrik.” Kurt added. “The route Anna was taking – would that have led her anywhere near the beach?” 

“No. I mean… she was going in pretty much the opposite direction. Why? Was that where she was found?” Neither Kurt nor Magnus answered – they didn’t need to. “Shit… what the hell was she doing down there? Look, I don’t know if you’ve got any theories about that yet, but let me tell you one thing – Anna would never have gone near the beach on her own at that time of night. She freaked out enough about dark paths and alleys, and the nearest stretch of beach to where we were has no lights at all. If she was down there, she was either with someone she trusted or someone chased her there.” 

— 

“I think we can safely cross Alrik off the suspect list.” Kurt addressed the team once they were back in their office. “We’ll still check his alibi, of course, to confirm, but I’m certain he’s telling the truth.”

“His alibi doesn’t stretch the full four hours, Kurt. He might have made a call to Rita around4am, but he could have called her from anywhere.” Anne-Britt pointed out. “Do we have an exact time of death, Nyberg?” 

“Alrik isn’t your man.” Nyberg confirmed, holding up his report. “Anna was killed around2:45am.” 

“Which means Alrik was still at  _2350_  at the time. Plenty of witnesses, including his friends, and the taxi driver who took him and Mathias home.” Kurt nodded. “Okay, cross Alrik off the suspect list once his alibi is confirmed.” 

“So we’re still nowhere.” Magnus sighed. “I have the security tapes from all buildings with outside cameras. A couple of people I interviewed recognised Anna’s picture but couldn’t give me more than that, and Hanna Ahlstrom reported seeing the fight between Olivia and Alrik at  _Pulse_. The manager at  _Dynamic_  wasn’t there when I called round, but I have a contact number for him.” 

“Excellent. Okay, Anne-Britt, Magnus, I want you to view the tapes, see if you can spot anything suspicious. I especially want focus on the tapes from  _Dynamic_ , just to confirm Alrik’s story. If we’re lucky, we can spot if anyone followed Anna as she left the girls, or if anyone followed Alrik after he left to catch up with her.” Kurt turned to Nyberg. “What’s the official cause of death?” 

“The blow to the head. Caused by something blunt, and heavy. Possibly a pipe or a club of some sort, maybe even a bat.” Nyberg told him. 

“So the suspect would have been carrying it with him, or picked it up along the way. If it’s the former, we can consider pre-meditation, someone who knew she’d be out that night. Could be he took a chance by following them all night, waiting for an opportunity, or spotted her during the night and prepared himself for the attack. If it’s the latter, we can also consider it being a crime of passion. Perhaps he hadn’t meant to kill her, just stun her to stop her from running away, or screaming.” 

“Could also work for both angles, Kurt.” Magnus pointed out. “Could be the suspect had the object on him for a legitimate reason – a cane or walking stick, perhaps – and simply lashed out with it, or it was pre-meditated and he just happened to pick up the first thing he could find. It could just as easily have been a rock that he struck her with if that was the first thing to hand.” 

“Good point.” Anne-Britt agreed. “We’re no closer to finding out why she was killed or who by. Come on, Magnus. The sooner we view these tapes the sooner her killer can be brought to justice.” Magnus nodded and handed her the tapes, turning towards the door. Just as he made a move to open it for her, he stopped dead, ice rushing through his veins as his eyes found the tall, intimidating figure striding down the hallway outside. As soon as he recognised the dark expression on the man’s face, Magnus was no longer a strong homicide cop, but a young boy first expressing his desire to go against his family’s plans for him. He froze in place, unable to move, unable to respond to Anne-Britt when she asked what was wrong, because even though he had not been home in several years there was no chance of him ever forgetting that man. 

Markus Martinsson.


	3. Chapter 3

He could hear the blood pounding in his ears, and his hand slipped from the door handle, his palms feeling vaguely sweaty as he took two steps back, trying to keep his breathing even. He had expected an angry phone call, a voice message left on his phone telling him how much of a disappointment he was, how Olivia had told him everything, and how he was officially disowned from the family. He hadn’t expected a personal visit from dear old dad. 

Magnus remembered a time when his father hadn’t scared him. He remembered running to the door when he came home from work, and being swept up into his arms to be carried back through the house. He remembered being given his father’s badge to play with whilst Markus greeted his wife, and patted the swollen stomach that would one day be his little sister. He remembered being tucked into bed and listening to his father’s deep voice rumbling through his favourite story, and going to sleep with a fond kiss to the forehead and a gentle hand ruffling his hair. 

He remembered family holidays – rare, since Markus had a demanding job – and Markus chasing him and Olivia through a park, or on the beach, and they were all laughing and happy. Those had been the good years, when Markus Martinsson was just his wonderful father, the kind-hearted man who loved his children, the idol Magnus looked up to. 

Magnus also remembered the very first time his father had terrified him. He still remembered the conversation word for word, though calling it a conversation wasn’t strictly accurate – Markus yelled, and Magnus cowered, and Markus yelled some more.  _‘No son of mine is going to be a goddamn dancer!’_  That was when Magnus’ happy, perfect life fell apart. Markus was no longer the gentle, loving father he remembered. He was angry, and violent, and abusive. Only verbally, at least at first, but honestly the words cut deeper than any physical injury Markus could inflict upon him. 

Markus pushed open the door, ignoring Anne-Britt and Kurt as he fixed his eyes upon Magnus, who instinctively shrank back away from him. Markus’ hand fisted in his son’s shirt and he yanked him closer, his other hand lifting – and Magnus flinched, even though his father had only lifted his hand to point an accusing finger at him. 

“You have gone too far this time, Magnus.” Markus growled, anger lacing his voice dangerously. “You have soiled the name of Martinsson one too many times, and this is  _too far_.” He turned, dragging Magnus after him, attempting to pull him out into the hall. “You are coming with me, right now, and I am going to  _fix_  you.” 

“Fix me?!” Magnus found his voice now, and he pulled himself free of his father’s grasp, trying not to flinch again when Markus whirled around to face him. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? There’s nothing to  _fix_!” 

“Bullshit. I don’t know who put this stupid idea into your head but it needs to be removed before you do any more damage to this family.” Markus growled. “No son of mine is going to be g-,” 

“Going to be  _what_?” Magnus cut in, his voice sounding a lot stronger than he felt. Rage coiled in his gut, snuffing out the fear he felt from just being in the presence of Markus Martinsson. 

“Now, come on, I think-,” Kurt appeared in the doorway, Anne-Britt hovering behind his shoulder, but he was silenced by the sharp glare Markus aimed his way. 

“You stay out of this, Wallander.” He hissed. “This is between me and my son.” 

“Then perhaps you shouldn’t be doing this out in the hall.” Kurt replied calmly, seemingly unfazed by the venom in Markus’ voice. 

“You do not tell me what to do.” Markus pushed past Magnus now, getting right up in Kurt’s face. “One word from me and you will find yourself sweeping leaf litter from the gutters.” 

“Your influence in the department doesn’t scare me, Mr Martinsson.” Magnus stared at Kurt in surprise. In all his life he hadn’t met anyone brave enough to stand against Markus Martinsson – until now, obviously. Either Kurt was very brave, or had no care for the consequences of going toe-to-toe with his father. Thinking about it, Magnus assumed it was more likely the latter. Kurt never seemed to care much for the consequences of his actions. “However, we are working an important case and I rather feel your homophobic rant can wait until later, when I don’t need Magnus to work.” 

“My-,” Markus’ fists clenched, and he rounded on Magnus, grabbing a handful of his curly bronze locks. Magnus winced, one hand coming up to grasp his father’s wrist, though he knew he probably couldn’t do anything to ease the grip on his hair. “No wonder you are such a failure if this piece of useless shit is your boss.” He yanked hard, and Magnus hissed in pain. 

“Now, sir, I must insist you-,” Several officers had gathered now, and a uniform hesitantly approached. He stopped with a faint squeak as Markus glared over at him. Lisa, having been called down by Anne-Britt the second Markus had dragged Magnus out into the hall, appeared at the top of the stairs at one end, and began making her way towards the assembled officers. 

“You are going to stop this, Magnus. You are going to be a proper man now.” Markus murmured to him in a dangerous tone, yanking on his hair again. “You are going to quit this pathetic team, and I will get you a position in Vice, and you will do your fucking duty like I told you to.” 

“Like hell I will.” Magnus gasped out through gritted teeth, trying to squirm free of his father’s grasp. Markus’ free hand lashed out, slapping him hard across the face. When Magnus tasted blood on his lower lip, the rage burned hotter. 

“You will do as you’re fucking told, Magnus.” He hissed. “And as for this disgusting, unnatural  _fling_  of yours…” 

“It’s not a-,” another slap, this one harder than the first. 

“You are disgracing the family, disgracing me. My son is not a faggot! You will cease all contact with this filthy bastard who is tainting your mind, or I will-,” Magnus stopped listening, and let the rage take control, his hand clenching into a fist. Before he was quite aware of what he was doing, he brought his fist up and cracked his father right in the jaw. The hand in his hair loosened and fell away as Markus stumbled back, his other hand pressed to his face as he stared at Magnus in shock. Not waiting for his father to recover, he brought his fist back and struck again, this time aiming for his nose – there was a sickening crunch, and Markus fell back against the wall, blood trickling down over the hand still pressed to his jaw. 

“Bad mouth me all you want,  _father_ , hell you can even abuse me all you want – but don’t you ever,  _ever_ , bad mouth Jensen.” Magnus growled, for the first time in his life greatly resembling his father. Four uniforms stepped forward to restrain Markus, and Lisa stepped forward. 

“Markus Martinsson, you have assaulted one of my men, disrupted the peace, and delayed further investigation into a murder case in which your daughter is involved. You can either be escorted from the building quietly, or I will throw you into a cell and you can spend the night like one of your criminals.” She stated firmly, arms crossed over her chest. Markus shot one last look at Magnus, wiping blood from his face. 

“This is not over, you little shit. I’ll beat the fag out of you if I have to!” Markus snapped. Magnus moved to strike him again, but to his surprise Kurt stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder, adding just enough pressure to keep him rooted to the spot. 

“Lisa, I think Markus would benefit from a night in a cell. He seems to have forgotten his place in the world.” He murmured calmly, before turning to face Markus. “Sir, you may have had certain plans for your son, but Magnus has a right to live his life the way he wants to. He is a good homicide cop, and very valuable to my team, and one day he will lead his own. As for who he chooses to share his life with, I don’t think you have any right to judge him.” He gave a nod to the uniforms, and Lisa sent a smile in Markus’ direction that could have been called smug if you didn’t know any better. He shrugged out of the grasp of the uniforms and lifted his head proudly as they escorted him away, and a tense silence fell in the hallway. Magnus’ fists were clenched tightly, and his face began to burn with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. His once private personal life was now going to be all anyone talked about for the next couple of weeks. The hand on his shoulder tightened slightly, and Magnus lifted his eyes to meet Kurt’s. “Come, Magnus.” He led him back into their office, as Lisa ushered the other officers away, telling them to get back to work. 

Magnus slumped into a chair around their largest table, dropping his head into his hands. Now the adrenaline was wearing off he could feel the throbbing pain in his head, and his hand was  _burning_. He glanced down at his hand, flexing his fingers, and he hissed in pain at the movement. Three of his knuckles had split from the contact with his father’s face, and blood was already drying around the wounds, and  _fuck_  did it hurt. 

He’d gotten into his fair share of fights in his life, but they’d never been more than a scuffle quickly halted by friends or figures of authority. He’d never actually punched someone that hard before, and now he was paying the price for it. He glanced up when Kurt took a seat beside him, and set a small white box on the table in front of him. Before Magnus could question him, he’d opened it up and taken out a few items – and Magnus realised it was a small first-aid kit. He began to protest, but the words caught in his throat as Kurt cleaned the wounds gently. It stung, and he couldn’t stop himself from wincing, but he said nothing – until finally he could no longer stay silent. 

“What are you doing?” His voice was quiet, barely more than a murmur. Kurt didn’t look up from what he was doing. 

“Seeing to your injury.” He stated matter-of-factly. “That looked like it felt good.” He added with a faint smile, and despite the situation Magnus actually gave a short, soft laugh. 

“It did.” He admitted. “I guess I’ve always wanted to fight back, but I… I never did.” Every fibre of his being was telling him to stop talking, to keep his past private, but he couldn’t stop the words from coming. “I was always too scared to.” 

“I’d say he deserved it.” Kurt finished cleaning the wounds, and inspected them more closely now that the blood was gone. “You’ll be sore for a while, but I think you’ll live.” He remarked, trying to ease some tension. Magnus chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, and then he sighed. 

“Kurt… thanks.” He muttered awkwardly. “For, well… standing up for me, I guess. Though I don’t know why you did.” 

“Why? Because, Magnus…” Kurt sighed now, leaning back in his chair. “I meant what I said. You’re good at this job, even if it wasn’t what you intended to do. I know I don’t always show my appreciation for any of you – I’ve always been a lone wolf and it’s hard to break lifelong habits, I suppose, but I’m working on that – but you’re all valuable assets to the team.” He shrugged slightly. “And it bothers me to see family being treated wrongly like that. I know I’m not the best father in the world, nor was I the best son, but your father was way out of line.” 

“It’s nothing I’m not already used to.” 

“And you shouldn’t be used to it, Magnus.” There was a pause, and Magnus knew what Kurt was going to ask next, though he wished he wouldn’t. “Was he very abusive to you as a child?” Magnus said nothing, and just as Kurt was about to move on, thinking Magnus wasn’t going to answer, he sighed. 

“Not physically, not until I was big enough to fight back – even though I didn’t. But verbally, yes.” He dragged his uninjured hand through his hair, and winced when his fingers brushed over the sensitive section where his father had yanked him around by his hair. “Look, Kurt… I appreciate the help, but I’d rather not talk about this, okay? It’s bad enough that the whole station will know about the incident with my father. I don’t want anything else getting around, too.” He expected Kurt to push, but to his surprise the older man just nodded. 

“Okay. But if you need to talk to anyone, I think it should be Jensen.” He stood, and wandered back over to Anne-Britt, giving her some instructions. She nodded and picked up the tapes once more, heading for the door. She paused, and glanced over at Magnus. 

“Magnus? Are you coming?” The way she posed the question, coupled with the tone of her voice, suggested she wasn’t demanding he accompany her as they had intended earlier, but simply asking if he wanted to. 

“Sure. Work is a good distraction.” 

— 

When they returned to the office, Kurt and Nyberg were discussing something between them, reports spread between them. They glanced up, and Kurt raised his eyebrows expectantly. Anne-Britt held up a disc and gave them a smile. 

“Most of the tapes were useless to us, but  _Dynamic_ ’s tapes gave us exactly what we’d hoped for.” She slotted the disc into one of the computers, and they gathered around the screen to watch. “We see the group leaving the club around1:50, and they stand by the road for a moment, discussing something between them.” She gestured at the screen as the grainy figure of Olivia stepped off to one side. “We assume she’s calling for the taxi now, and it turns up only five or so minutes later. They talk some more, and then Olivia gets in and leaves.” 

“And then we see here – Rita pulls out her phone. Going from Alrik’s statement, she should be calling him about now. See how Anna is holding up Agneta behind her? It fits with the story. She hangs up, dials another number – no doubt calling for the taxi that will take her and Agneta home.” Magnus added. “When she hangs up, they talk with Anna, and then she starts to walk off down the street.” 

“And here we have the taxi pulling up to the curb, and Rita helps Agneta into the back. Just as she’s about to get in beside her, she stops and straightens – and there’s Alrik. Time marker says this happened around2:23.” Anne-Britt gestured to the time stamp in one corner. “They talk, Rita gestures in the direction Anna left, and then Alrik helps her into the taxi and follows Anna. It all matches his story.” 

“But there’s more.” Magnus cut in, gesturing at one corner of the screen. “It took us a couple of run-throughs to see it, but there’s a man standing against the outer wall of the building, partially in shadow. He emerged not long after the girls, and remained there. At first we thought he might have just stepped out for some air, but he was focused on the girls the entire time. He waits, and look – there’s Alrik heading back just now, presumably going back to his friends like he told us. The second Alrik passes him, this guy moves away from the wall and heads in the direction Anna left in. We can’t get a clear shot of his face, but he matches the description Rita gave us.” 

“So he spotted them in the club, and waited until one of them was alone. It could have been any of them…” Kurt sighed. “Just bad luck for Anna that she was the one on her own late at night.” 

“And maybe if Alrik had stayed with her, she would have been fine.” Nyberg murmured. “Or maybe we’d have two dead bodies on our hands. The man is slender, not obviously muscular, but the force of the blow that killed Anna suggests he’s an angry man. He could have taken Alrik down quite easily, especially if he caught him by surprise – say from behind.” 

“This gives us more of a timeline, however. If Anna was killed around 2:45, and left on her own around 2:30, give or take a few minutes, that tells us it only took fifteen minutes for the killer to get her down to the beach and kill her.” Kurt nodded. “Okay, Anne-Britt – find out all possible routes she could have taken that would lead her to where she was found. Cancel out any that are well-populated around that time of night. The killer wouldn’t have risked anyone spotting him on her tail, especially if she was being chased. Any that would take longer than fifteen minutes at a slow walk will be pushed to the bottom of the list. If we can find the route she took, we might find more evidence.” He turned to Nyberg. “What about her bag? Did you get anything from it?” 

“Anna’s fingerprints, and Rita’s, and an unknown set. I’m running them through the database now, but so far nothing has turned up. I also noticed that the zipper had been damaged slightly, as if yanked open. Could be nothing, but perhaps the killer was looking for something in there?” 

“Perhaps. Might also explain why he tossed it – it wasn’t to conceal her identity, as it wasn’t too far from the body and though hidden it would have been easy enough for someone to unearth it. Of course there’s still the possibility it was dropped, but we’ll run that angle, too. Magnus, call the girls, see if one of them can come in and we’ll have them check if anything of Anna’s is missing from her bag.” Magnus gave a nod, and he suspected Kurt knew he wouldn’t even try calling Olivia. He moved to his desk, and picked up the phone. After a brief conversation, it was Agneta who agreed to come into the station when she had a break. 

He had about an hour or so before she’d be there, and so he leant back in his chair and went over his notes from the interview with Alrik, and the notes he’d made from watching the security footage. His hand pulsed with pain every so often, but he did his best to ignore it. Now that the moment was past, he couldn’t help but worry about what the consequences would be – his father was going to be pissed off, he knew that much. Part of him worried that he would go home and take it out on his wife, and though Lili-Ann had never done a thing to stop Markus from verbally – and later physically – abusing their son, he knew it was because she was as terrified of him as he had been. 

“You really do work too hard.” He turned, surprised, at the sound of Jensen’s voice, and spotted the blond crossing the room to his desk. In one hand he held a Styrofoam cup, and in the other a brown paper bag. “You look terrible, babe.” Jensen set the cup down on Magnus’ desk. “I brought you some coffee, and some lunch, since I know you probably forgot to eat earlier.” Surprised, Magnus grabbed the bag and peered inside – there was a little plastic box containing a slice of chocolate cake, and an apple. 

“You didn’t have to…” Magnus murmured, but he was already struggling to contain his eagerness for the cake. Trust Jensen to play to his biggest weakness… 

“Wait, wait…” Jensen’s voice sounded concerned now, and Magnus swore under his breath as he felt warm fingers lightly skim over his injured knuckles. Jensen took Magnus’ hand in his own, studied the wounds, and then his eyes went to Magnus’ face – and he spotted the split in his lip. “Did you get into a fight?” 

“It’s nothing, Jensen.” He muttered, hiding his split lip by drinking from the cup, humming softly as the delicious warm liquid slid down his throat. 

“Magnus.” Jensen sighed, perching on his desk now, not releasing the hand he held gently in his own. 

“I said it’s nothing!” He snapped, and instantly regretted it. He never liked getting angry at Jensen, even if the idiot sometimes deserved it. “Sorry. It’s just… been a long day.” 

“Then tell me about it.” He brought his hand to his lips and smiled. “While you eat your cake.” 

“I hate you.” Magnus scowled, but his free hand reached into the bag and retrieved the cake. “Look it’s just… it’s over now, okay? It doesn’t matter what happened.” 

“It obviously bothers you still.” 

“It… yeah, it does.” He admitted with a sigh, opening up the box with one hand to get at the cake inside. “The girl we found this morning, she… she was a friend of my sister’s.” He muttered, quickly picking up the cake and taking a bite. He moaned softly as the flavour hit his tongue and exploded like fireworks in his mouth. Oh yeah, this was a good piece of cake. 

“Your sister’s involved?” Jensen raised his eyebrows, surprised, and Magnus stopped eating long enough to give him a rather puzzled look. “What, you think I don’t know about your family?” He laughed softly. “I actually discovered them by mistake. I was looking into your job a while back, ended up clicking on the wrong Martinsson listed as a detective, and found your father.” He didn’t miss the wince at the mention of Markus Martinsson, and made a note to ask about that later. “When it listed a wife and two kids I realised it wasn’t you.” 

“Oh. Well, yeah… my sister is involved. We’re not close.” He shrugged. “I’m not close to any of my family.” He quickly took another bite of cake, and was glad for the distraction it provided. 

“I’m guessing it wasn’t a pleasant meeting then?” Jensen smiled a little, trailing his fingers lightly up and down Magnus’ arm. He knew how to ease into a subject in order to get Magnus to talk. Asking plainly only made him withdraw, and he’d get no answers. 

“Not exactly. I ended up telling her about us.” He sighed. “That went well.” He took another bite of cake, groaned softly as he swallowed – and Jensen shifted slightly, trying not to focus on the movements of Magnus’ throat. Maybe the cake had been a bad idea. “My family isn’t exactly… homo-friendly.” 

“… Did you fight with your sister?” 

“No.” Magnus laughed, and the sound reassured Jensen. “No, I didn’t fight with her. It was my dad I fought with.” Success. Jensen kissed his injured knuckles softly. 

“Your dad? Tell me more…” 

“Well he came down here. Olivia told them everything, I guess, and he came to take some shots at me about how much of a failure I am, how much I’m disgracing the family name, and then added in a few ‘no son of mine will be a faggot’ remarks.” He set the cake down, licked his fingers clean before running them through his hair. “Said he’d beat the fag out of me.” 

“So you hit him?” He smiled, amused and also rather impressed – but at the same time he could feel anger bubbling to the surface at knowing Magnus’ father had treated him that way. 

“Not for that, no.” He bit his lip slightly, and Jensen was momentarily distracted with the urge to kiss him. Boy, did Magnus drive him crazy with the littlest things… “I can take the abuse from him, I’m used to it. But…” 

“Yes…?” 

“He said some bad things about you.” He said quickly, averting his eyes. Jensen blinked, surprised, and then he smiled. Before Magnus could even think to protest, he leant in and brought their lips together in a soft kiss, tasting chocolate cake on his tongue. When he pulled away, he flashed Magnus a bright smile. 

“And so you hit him. That’s sweet.” He gave him another kiss, even softer than the first, taking into account the split lip – he knew it probably hurt like hell. “But it troubles me that you say you’re used to his abuse. Did he…?” 

“Yes.” Magnus admitted quietly, with more ease than when he’d admitted it to Kurt. He cast his eyes down, and leaned into the gentle touch when Jensen ran a hand through his hair. “Yes, he did.” He didn’t resist when Jensen pulled him to his feet and wrapped his arms around him. His arms came around him, holding him tightly, and he buried his face in Jensen’s neck as he clung to him almost desperately, in a rare moment of weakness. Jensen held him close, saying nothing, doing nothing except keeping him tight against his chest. 

“Thanks for the coffee, and the cake…” He said weakly. “And the cuddle, I guess.” He added with a shaky laugh. 

“I think you needed it.” He kissed his forehead, and ruffled the unruly bronze curls he adored so much. “But I should really be getting back to work. I’ve got some stuff to finish up before I can call it a day. Still on for that Italian take-out tonight?” 

“Sounds perfect.” Magnus smiled, leaning up to steal a quick kiss before he pulled away and slid back into his seat. 

“Good. I’ll give you a call when I’m on my way back.” He bent, kissed his hair. “Don’t forget to eat the apple, too. Balanced diet and all that.” With a final gentle touch to his cheek, Jensen turned and left, leaving Magnus smiling into his coffee. 

— 

Agneta turned up at the station, but nothing appeared to be missing from Anna’s bag. She also told them no one else had touched her bag that night, so couldn’t give any clue as to who the unknown fingerprints might belong to. Magnus thanked her for her time, and had a uniform escort her out. He returned to their office just in time to hear Anne-Britt giving Kurt the four possible routes Anna could have taken from the club to the beach. They all agreed it was getting a little too late to start wandering back and forth looking for evidence that  _might_ be there, and so Kurt sent them home a little early. 

Magnus drove to Jensen’s apartment slowly, taking the longest route possible. He’d checked in with Lisa on his way out and she told him his father wasn’t spending a night in the cells after all, and was in fact on his way home shortly. He’d phoned up Jensen and told him he was on his way to his apartment, just in case Markus turned up at his own and attempted to continue what he had started at the station. Jensen had fallen silent after that, and had promised again to call when he was on his way home with dinner. 

He knew he should just go home and face his father if he was, in fact, there, but he couldn’t deal with another confrontation again today. As he jogged up the stairs to Jensen’s apartment, he passed a familiar face – Hanna. She grinned, hitching her shoulder bag up and gave him a wave. 

“Hey again, handsome.” She laughed. “Good thing I’m working tonight if you’re over at Jensen’s.” Magnus felt his face flush, and she laughed again. “Don’t you worry, sweetcheeks, I’m just playing with you. Have a good time.” She jogged down some steps, and then stopped and turned. “Hey, you find who killed that girl yet?” 

“Not yet. We’re working on it. I can’t really talk about it…” 

“No, I know. Just curious.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I’m gonna talk to the people at work tonight, see if anyone else knows anything. I’ll give them your number if they do.” 

“Thanks, Hanna.” He flashed her a genuine smile, and then she was off. He let himself into Jensen’s apartment, kicked off his shoes and hung up his coat, and then wandered into the living room and dropped face-first onto the sofa, where he intended to stay until Jensen came home. 

— 

Markus Martinsson parked his car at the end of the road, and sat there for a moment before he climbed out, turning up his collar against the chill evening air. He strode down the street until he came to the building he knew Magnus resided in, and quickly walked up to the door that would allow him entry. He knew all the tricks concerning how to get through a door like this, and so he ran a finger down over every buzzer until the door clicked open, and he stepped inside. He soon found himself outside Magnus’ door, and he lifted a hand to knock upon the wood heavily. He’d seen Magnus leave the station, had waited for him for that purpose, but he’d been careful not to follow too closely in case he was spotted. When there was no answer, he knocked again, louder this time – but still nothing. Cursing under his breath, Markus realised Magnus probably wasn’t home, and he certainly wasn’t going to wait around all night. 

He wandered back down through the building, and was just about to turn the corner towards the building’s entrance when a shadow caught his eye. He lifted his arm a second too late, and was unable to block the fist that caught him square in the jaw. He staggered back against the stairs, unprepared for the second blow, but he managed to find his feet and dart back out of the way as a third swing came rushing towards him. He lunged at his attacker, managing to graze one cheek with his fist before a hand closed around his throat and slammed him against the wall. In the dim light provided by a lightbulb on the ceiling above them, Markus studied the features of his attacker – blond hair pulled back into a small ponytail, a muscular physique and sharp blue eyes that were swimming with rage. 

“Markus Martinsson.” He hissed, and Markus could hear the venom lacing his tone. “If you ever lay a hand to Magnus again, for whatever reason, you’ll find me waiting for you.” Those blue eyes narrowed sharply. “And don’t even think about pulling any police crap with me – I know what you did to him, what you’ve done to him since he was a kid. I know about the hospital trips you used to explain away as him being a clumsy child. I’ve done my research, Markus.” 

“Who are you to talk to me this way?” Markus growled, trying to pull the hand away from his throat. It wasn’t constricting, or cutting off his air, but it was tight enough to get the message across. 

“I’m someone who cares about him. I’m someone who will rip you to fucking shreds if you so much as pull out one of his hairs. Your power over him is gone now, Markus. You can’t push him around any longer. He’s got protection now. I protect him now, and this is my warning to you – come near him ever again, without good and honest reason and with any intent to harm him verbally or physically, and I will take all the pain you caused him in his life and give it back to you tenfold. You hear me?” Markus nodded very slightly. “Good. Now, you’re going to go back to your car, get in and drive home, like a good little boy. You won’t speak of this to anyone – not your family, nor your friends in the police. You may have friends in high places, Markus, but I still have friends in low ones who are ten times more dangerous.” 

“Jensen.” Markus gasped out, disgust in his tone. “You’re Jensen.” 

“Yeah, that’s right, asshole.” Jensen smirked, releasing his grip around his throat. “I’m your son’s boyfriend, and I’m a lot bigger and stronger than you. Maybe next time you’ll think twice before intruding on his personal life.” He straightened up, stepped back. “Have a good evening, sir. It was a damn pleasure to meet you.” Satisfied, Jensen opened the door, and gestured for him to leave first. As he watched Markus hurry back to his car and drive off, Jensen pulled out his phone and dialled Magnus’ number. “Hey, babe. Yeah, I’m just on my way home…”

_“Hurry back, okay? I could do with another cuddle… I got myself a bit worked up over my dad again.”_

“Well, don’t you worry, darling.” Jensen smiled. “I have a feeling he won’t be bothering you again.” 

_“Jensen?”_

“Yeah?” 

 _“I know I don’t say it often enough, but… I love you.”_  Jensen smiled, picturing the slight blush he knew would be spreading across Magnus’ face. 

“I love you, too.”


	4. Chapter 4

Mornings never used to be Magnus’ favourite. He used to hate waking up knowing he had an entire day ahead of him, a day that would most likely consist of being pushed around by his colleagues or doing all the legwork for a case that could have been passed on to anyone – anyone but him. He used to hate lying there knowing he had to get up and he wouldn’t get a five minute break until he was finally allowed to go home that evening. 

Now, however, mornings were his favourite over anything else – except possibly days off. Mornings no longer consisted of dreading the day ahead and wondering when he might get a break. His mornings now consisted of being enveloped in strong, warm arms, lips against the back of his neck and a smooth, deep voice greeting him from his sleep. 

His alarm dragged him from his dreams and he groaned in complaint, rubbing a hand over his face as he reached out to shut the awful thing off. He sat up slightly, checking his phone in case he had any messages that he hadn’t heard the arrival of, and the second he began to move he felt an arm slide around his waist, and he was yanked back into the warm body that sprawled beside him. 

“It’s too early for you to be getting up.” Jensen murmured, pressing his face against Magnus’ neck as he held him tighter against him. 

“It’s no earlier than usual.” Magnus countered, but he made no move to wriggle free. Jensen’s hands were warm on his skin, and when familiar lips traced the curve of one shoulder he melted back into him, turning slightly as he twisted his fingers in untidy blond hair. He gently tugged Jensen’s head up, and met his lips in a slow, lazy kiss. “But I do have to go to work. As do you.”

“Five more minutes won’t hurt.” Jensen grinned, not releasing his hold in the slightest. “You can stay here five minutes, surely?” Magnus made to protest – though he knew it would be a weak protest – but then Jensen was nuzzling against his hair and softly humming in content and any protest died on his lips as he turned in his arms to cuddle closer. 

“Five minutes.” He murmured, pressing his lips to Jensen’s collarbone. “No more.” Even as he said it, he knew he was going to be running late that morning. When Jensen’s mouth found his and his hands slid down to grasp his hips, Magnus knew he was going to be  _very_ late. 

He responded to every touch eagerly, his body arching into Jensen’s as the blond moved over him, the kiss deepening as Magnus hooked one leg up over Jensen’s hip. Magnus’ fingers twisted into Jensen’s hair as lips trailed down over his throat, and he gasped out his name as he rolled his hips up, a movement that could almost be taken as a plea. He felt Jensen grin against his skin and inwardly cursed himself for being so easy to manipulate – but Jensen’s hands were like magic and he could never resist them for long. This was a well-rehearsed dance for them now, each move practiced and experienced, though it still managed to be new and unpredictable. 

Jensen filled him, completed him, and there was no greater feeling in the world. Trembling fingers ghosted over firm muscles and flushed skin, and lips met to silence the sounds of their passion. They moved together perfectly, bodies completely in sync, driving each other towards a peak. Their voices sounded out, calling each other’s names softly and gently, intimately, and when Magnus’ head fell back with a final loud cry, Jensen succumbed to his body’s need and came with him. 

He nestled back into the sheets beside him, one hand toying with Magnus’ damp curls as he watched his cop come down from his high, a little satisfied smile on his face. A quick glance at the clock told him they were both going to be late for work but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He moved in to initiate another kiss, but just as their lips brushed, Magnus’ phone rang. Groaning, the homicide cop pulled away regretfully and blindly reached for it. 

“Martinsson.” He murmured, yawning slightly. It took all of three seconds for Jensen to work out that the call was something serious – the once sex-sleepy Magnus was now alert and awake, and sitting up in bed. “I’ll be there.” He hung up, tossed the phone down, and scrubbed at his face with his hands. 

“Trouble?” Jensen asked softly, sitting up beside him and pressing a kiss to his shoulder, one hand stroking down his back gently. 

“They’ve found another dead girl.” He told him with a sigh. “Kurt’s given me the case – he thinks it could be linked to Anna Sjogren. Same age range, same scenario – walking home from a night out – and same cause of death.” He turned, gave him a quick kiss. “I have to go.” 

“I know.” He smiled, nuzzled his cheek, and then gave him a gentle shove out of bed. “Go on, handsome. Go and nail this son of a bitch before he kills again.” 

— 

Anne-Britt was on the scene when he arrived, which surprised him, but his surprise didn’t last long – of course another member of the team would be there. It was their case, after all, and they had to make sure it stayed in their hands. She smiled as he approached, and pushed through the uniforms to meet him on the street. 

“She was found this morning by a passer-by. Looks like she’s been here a few hours – it’s a quiet street.” She told him. “We managed to turn up her bag, dumped not far from here, same as Anna.” They walked together towards the crime scene. “ID lists her as Erika Ronback, twenty-three years old-,” 

“Erika Ronback?” The colour drained from Magnus’ face, and Anne-Britt paused as she heard the tension in his voice. “Did you say Ronback?” 

“That’s right. Why?” She frowned. “Do you know her?” Magnus strode over to where Erika lay sprawled upon the street, and sighed. 

“Sort of. I… I knew her brother.” She looked exactly like he remembered – small and dainty, with choppy brown hair and a gentle face. He had lost touch with the Ronback family when he’d left home, but he knew that Erika and Olivia had stayed close. “Shit…” He dragged a hand through his hair, and turned away from the sight. 

“Magnus, if this is too much… we’ll understand.” Anne-Britt put a hand on his arm, and smiled gently at him. “First your sister’s friend, and now another connection to you…” 

“No.” Magnus shook his head, determination in his eyes. “No, this just makes me want to catch this bastard all the more.” He glanced back at the figure of Erika on the ground, and one hand clenched tightly into a fist. “For Anna, and for Erika.” Anne-Britt’s smile was stronger now, and she took her hand from his arm, something akin to pride in her eyes. “What do we have from the scene, then?” 

“Nothing much, same as Anna’s. I’ve sealed up the bag after checking the ID, ready for Nyberg to work his magic.” She gestured at the body. “No obvious signs of sexual abuse, and no injuries save for the head wound. There’s a stamp on her hand from a night club, but other than that… we have nothing.” 

“It’s gotta be the same guy.” Magnus sighed. “Anna’s murder wasn’t an impulse. It was pre-meditated, it had to have been. He’s killed two young women, but why? Why these two?” 

“There’s a connection between them, clearly. You knew Erika, and Olivia knew Anna.” 

“We both knew Erika.” Magnus corrected. “Stefan and I were friends in school, and Erika and Olivia became friends pretty quickly after that.” He sighed. “That’s the connection. Olivia’s the connection.” 

“So why are these girls being targeted? Do you know if Olivia has any enemies?” 

“I don’t know anything about her, Anne-Britt.” He shook his head slowly. “Alright, here’s the deal. You stay here and work the scene until Erika is taken to the morgue, then report back to Kurt. He needs to know this is the same case as Anna, and he needs to know the connection between the girls.” 

“What are you going to do?” 

“First, I’m going to talk to Stefan. He needs to hear this from a familiar face, and he’ll tell me anything he can that might help.” He dragged a hand through his hair, not quite believing what he was about to say. “And then I’m going to pay my dear little sister a visit.” 

— 

Stefan Ronback had always been a big lad – tall, and well-built – but as a man he seemed absolutely huge. Magnus nearly had the breath knocked out of him as Stefan pulled him into a crushing hug the second he saw him on the doorstep, and proceeded to drag him into his apartment. 

“It’s been so long, Magnus!” He laughed, gesturing for him to take a seat. “How’s work?” 

“It’s… work.” He shrugged, feeling awkward. “And it’s actually why I’m here. Listen, Stef… take a seat. This isn’t going to be easy, for either of us.” 

“Oh, hell. Am I being arrested for something?” He grinned, sinking onto the sofa opposite him. The grin faded, however, when he saw the serious look in Magnus’ eyes. “Magnus… what is it?” 

“It’s Erika, Stef.” He sighed. “She… she was found this morning. She’s dead, Stefan. I’m so sorry…” 

“Shut up.” Stefan murmured quickly. “This isn’t funny.” 

“I’m sorry. I… I’m on the case, and I will find who killed her. I promise.” He reached over, and touched a hand to Stefan’s arm. The big guy made no movement for a moment, and then he crumpled as tears welled up in his eyes. 

“Not Erika. Please, Magnus, tell me this is a joke…!” Magnus rose and sat next to him, draping an arm around his shoulders. Normally he distanced himself from grieving relatives, but this was different. Stefan had kept him sane through school, had been there when Markus had started to get physically abusive. He owed him a lot. 

“I’m sorry.” He repeated, not quite knowing what else to say. “Listen, Stef, I… I’ve gotta ask you some questions. Is that okay…?” Stefan nodded, scrubbing at his face with both hands as he took several deep breaths. “Do you know where Erika was last night?” 

“Yeah, yeah she was meeting a friend in a bar.” He dragged a hand through his hair with a sigh. “She didn’t say who, and I didn’t ask. She only told me because we’d been intending to have dinner together and catch up – we do every week – and she had to cancel, reschedule for tomorrow.” 

“Which bar?” Magnus’ notebook had come out now, and he held his pen ready. “Any details you can give me regarding time would be great, too.” 

“Oh, uh… André’s, I think. Yeah, pretty sure she said André’s.” He thought for a moment. “Seven. She was meeting her friend at seven – which is why she had to cancel dinner completely. Said she’d probably be out all night.” 

“Did she contact you again at all during the night?” 

“No. Not… well, I got a text from her, actually…” He pulled out his phone, and brought up the message, handing the phone over to show Magnus, who copied it out into his notebook – ‘I need to talk to you, tomorrow. It’s important and I might need your help. Xx’ 

“Did she say anything else?” 

“No. Just that. I got it at around one, I think. I was asleep at the time, so I didn’t reply. I figured she’d talk to me over dinner tonight…” His eyes filled with tears again, and he hurriedly blinked them away. “Do you think the help she needed was because of who killed her?” Magnus had already gone down that path, but that didn’t mean Stefan had to. 

“It’s impossible to tell.” He tucked the notebook away. “I’ll let you know if I find out anything important.” He rose from the sofa with an awkward pat on Stefan’s shoulder. 

“Magnus, wait…” He looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Was it… was it quick? Painless?” 

“I can’t-,” 

“Magnus,  _please_! This is Erika!” Stefan rose now, and grasped Magnus by both shoulders. Stefan towered over him and for a second he was no longer Stefan, but Markus, and Magnus flinched. Stefan quickly released him with a quickly mumbled apology, guilt creeping into his eyes now. “I’m sorry…” 

“No, it… it’s fine.” Magnus lied. “Look, I can’t tell you anything, Stef, you know I can’t. But if it makes you feel better, she didn’t suffer long.” Before Stefan could ask any more questions, and before Magnus’s strength crumbled, he turned and bolted to the door with a rushed ‘goodbye’. The second he was seated in his car once more, he draped himself over the steering wheel and took several deep, measured breaths before he felt the panic melt away. 

He had gone years without an incident like that. It had been years since physical actions towards him had made him react like that. He had thought he was free of that now, but… seeing his father again had obviously brought it all back again. He forced himself to move on, to start the car and drive off to have words with his sister. There was a reason why Anna and Erika had been killed, and it was more than coincidence that Olivia was closely acquainted with both of them. 

He was dreading the trip to her apartment, but he focused on the relief he felt that she had finally moved out of the family home. He didn’t think he could face going back there, even for the case. He hadn’t even passed by the street for years. He drove quickly, pulling up outside her apartment block only five minutes later, though it took him another three to build up the strength to get out of the car and walk up to the building to ring the bell. 

_“Yes? Who is it?”_

“It’s… it’s Magnus. We need to talk.” 

_“Is this about Anna?”_

“No.” He sighed. “Not exactly. It’s about Erika Ronback.” He waited a beat, and when there was still no sign of her opening the door for him, he added, “she’s dead, Olivia.” There was a click, and then the door beside him buzzed open. He made his way up to her apartment, and rapped his knuckles on the door – it took a moment, but then he heard the lock click open, and then he was staring down at Olivia’s face. 

“Erika’s dead?” 

“Yes. This morning.” He told her. “Are you going to let me in or are we going to do this on the doorstep for all your neighbours to see?” She rolled her eyes and stepped back to let him in. The apartment was furnished much the same way as their family home had been, and he tried to ignore the sickening sense of familiarity he felt from it. “You were still in touch with her, I believe.” 

“Yeah, of course we were. Not all of us like to abandon our friends the first chance we get.” She snapped at him, sitting down with a huff. Magnus reluctantly took a seat opposite her. “I saw her last night, actually.” 

“So you were the friend she told Stefan she was meeting?” At her nod, he brought out his notebook and made a note of that. 

“Should you be the one doing this? I thought you weren’t supposed to work alone if there’s personal involvement.” 

“I don’t consider this personal.” Magnus murmured, knowing the casual tone of his voice would seriously irk her. “Where did you go, and when? I need to know everything.” 

“We were at André’s from around seven until it closed atmidnight. I took a taxi home, like I always do, and Erika went her own way. I didn’t ask how she was getting home.” Olivia sighed, running a hand through her hair in a gesture scarily similar to his own. “Shit. She was killed on the way home, like Anna, wasn’t she? Do you think it’s the same guy?” 

“Almost certainly. Did you notice anyone suspicious in André’s?” 

“No.” She shook her head. “Too caught up in our conversation.” 

“What were you talking about?” 

“Girl stuff, Magnus. It’s not important.” There was a slight shake to her voice then, and Magnus studied her – she was hiding something. “Look, I just needed to talk to someone about Anna, okay? Rita and Agneta just get upset, and it’s not helpful!” 

“Olivia, if there is  _anything_  you’re holding back, anything at all, it could hinder the investigation. You’ll be withholding evidence. I can arrest you for that.” 

“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Her eyes turned cold now. “You’d love to haul your sister into the station for all to see.” 

“After what you did to me, you damn well know I would.” He snapped before he could stop himself. 

“I’ve done nothing to you.” 

“You told precious daddy all about our conversation. Well guess what,  _dear sister_ , he paid me a visit at work.” He gestured to the split lip with his injured hand. “Guess he still thinks I’m a kid he can knock around. I suppose you’ve forgotten all those times I stepped between you and him, or between mother and him, when he came home pissed off and drunk. You’ve forgotten how I took the brunt of his anger, his violence, because I didn’t want him hurting you. He might not have even considered it, but I still didn’t want it to happen and so  _I stepped in the way_!” He rose, tucking his notebook away. “I hoped you’d never have to deal with him, with his anger, his disappointment. But I guess you turned out just the way he wanted you to – just like  _him_. So thank you, Olivia, for sharing my personal life with our severely homophobic father. You really did me a favour there.” He strode to the door, and turned back to fix her with an icy glare. “If I found out you’ve lied to me, about anything in this case, I’ll take you down for obstruction of justice, maybe even throw in a suspected murder charge, because for all I know there’s a specific reason why two young women have turned up dead shortly after being in your company.” 

“You think I’d kill my friends?!” She screamed at him, also standing now. “You think that’s who I am?!” 

“I don’t know who you are, but you’re not my fucking sister.” Shaking with anger, he left her apartment without another word, slamming doors as he made his way back to his car. Perhaps Olivia had been right – perhaps he shouldn’t have been the one to interview her, but it was done, now. Nothing could change that. When his phone rang, he yanked it out of his pocket and answered. “What?!” 

 _“Oh… is everything alright, Magnus?”_ It was Anne-Britt, and Magnus took a moment to steady his voice and push back the anger. 

“Everything’s fine. What is it?” 

 _“Nyberg says Erika died around one-fifteen this morning. Definitely same cause of death as Anna. Also, there’s someone of interest you might want to interview.”_  

“Oh? Who?” 

_“Davin Zachrisson. He works at Dynamic, and was working the night of Anna’s death. According to the manager, he took a break around the same time the girls left the club. He matches the stature and profile of the figure we saw in the security footage, and according to his colleagues he plays baseball in his spare time. A baseball bat could have made these injuries, Magnus.”_

“Where can I find him?” 

_“We have him here, at the station. Kurt wants you to question him – he’s checking out the possible routes Anna took towards the beach, and I’m working with Nyberg on Erika’s case.”_

“Great, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He contemplated telling her about Olivia, that she was hiding something and it could be important, but he decided against it. He’d work the angle a little more before he made any conclusions. He hung up and glanced once up at the apartment block, as if expecting to see his sister watching him from a window, but there was nothing. He pulled away from the side of the road, and turned in the direction of the station. He decided he’d take the long route there, to give himself more time to calm down, and to gather his thoughts before he interviewed Davin. 

— 

Davin Zachrisson did indeed match the description, and the image, of the man they had officially deemed as their suspect. He was tall and skinny, with dark hair to his shoulders. The shirt he was wearing was too big for him, and made him look small and vulnerable in the interview room. He tensed and glanced up nervously as Magnus entered the room. 

“Detective Martinsson, Magnus, entering interview room one at ten-thirteen.” He took the seat across the table from Davin. “Please state your full name for the record.” Davin cleared his throat awkwardly, and his mouth worked silently for a moment before he found his voice. 

“Davin Zachrisson.” He mumbled. “Look, whatever you think I’ve done-,” 

“You work at the club Dynamic, is this correct?” Magnus cut in coolly. 

“Yeah.” He rubbed nervously at the back of his neck. “I work five nights a week,seven until midnight, except at the weekends and on Thursdays when I work nine until closing.” 

“Were you working two nights ago?” 

“Of course. Nine until closing.” He confirmed. 

“Are you aware that a murder happened that night? A young woman was killed after leaving Dynamic.” 

“Yeah, I heard. Anna something, right? I couldn’t believe it. I mean, you hear about murders on the TV but it’s something else when it happens on your doorstep, y’know?” He paused, tensed, and realised why he was there. “Oh, shit. You think I did it?” 

“You match the description one of Anna’s friends gave us, and we have security footage of a man matching your description loitering outside the club around the time Anna and her friends left. We spoke to your manager, Davin. You took a break around that time.” Magnus paused. “Do you smoke?” 

“I’m trying to quit.” 

“So you were out the front of the building, having a cigarette? Is that it?” 

“Well, yeah. I mean we’re allowed to smoke out back but the bins always stink so I prefer to stand out the front…” He sighed. “Look, I didn’t even know the girl. Why would I want to kill her?” 

“Any number of reasons.” He folded his hands on the table in front of him. “You play baseball, is this right?” 

“Sure. It’s an easy sport, really. I’m part of a small team, a few friends and I. We play whenever we get chance.” He shrugged. “I sometimes manage to get an hour or two in before work.” 

“Before work? Do you go straight there or do you drop by your home first?” 

“Depends on how much time I have, but usually I go straight there. I get changed in the back room and leave my stuff there until I finish.” Davin frowned. “Why?” 

“Just asking questions.” Magnus shrugged one shoulder, and took out two photographs from the file he’d carried in with him. “Do you recognise these two?” Davin leant over the table, studied the photos. 

“Yeah… yeah, I know this chick.” He pointed to the photograph of Olivia. “Saw her chatting to my brother a few days ago. Figured he got himself a new girlfriend but they didn’t seem happy with each other.” 

“How so?” 

“Well, she was right up in his face and though I couldn’t hear what they were saying, she looked… vicious. And he was holding her arm pretty tight. I just assumed they were having a lover’s tiff, y’know?” He shrugged. “Y’know… she kinda looks like you…” Magnus tensed, and quickly tapped a finger on the other photo – Erika’s photo. 

“What about this one? Ever seen her?” 

“Her? No. Not that I remember, anyway.” He shook his head. “Nah, I’d definitely remember her. She’s got really nice eyes, and I always notice and remember eyes.” Magnus was inclined to believe him. Nothing seemed suspicious about Davin at all. 

“Where were you last night betweenmidnightand two in the morning?” 

“Working. You can check with my manager. I didn’t leave until gone three – I stayed back an extra ten minutes to help with the clean-up.” Magnus studied him, and then gave a nod. 

“Okay.” He glanced at his notes, and went back to something Davin had said a moment ago. “So, you saw this woman with your brother, yes?” 

“That’s right.” 

“And your brother is…?” 

“Oh. Isak.” Davin told him. “He’s a year younger than me, but everyone thinks we’re twins cause we’re kinda alike, y’know?” 

“Is that so?” He murmured, making a note of it. “And you say you saw them arguing, or fighting, a few days ago?” 

“Yeah. Couple of days before that woman was killed. They didn’t look happy.” 

“Does Isak frequent Dynamic, Davin?” 

“I guess, sometimes, yeah.” He shrugged. “I give him a bit of a discount now and then.” 

“Alright, thanks Davin.” He handed him his card. “If you think of anything, you call me, okay? Anything at all.” 

“I can go?” He seemed surprised. 

“So far I see no reason to keep you. I’ll be checking your alibi, but for now I think you’re clear. If you see this woman again, I want you to find a way to contact me.” 

“Is she dangerous…?” Magnus hesitated, glancing down at Olivia’s face staring up at him from the photo. 

“I’m not sure, Davin. She might be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in getting this out. I was having trouble getting through a couple of scenes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in getting this out, and thanks to those who have commented and love the story! It's drawing to a close now but don't for a minute think there won't be a follow-up in time~

The office was empty when he returned – Kurt was obviously still out in the field, and Anne-Britt with Nyberg. He went over his notes, spread them out over the table as he tried to piece them all together. It was clear that Olivia was in the middle of everything, either as the cause or the killer. 

He began arranging his notes on the table in a specific way, occasionally having to write out more on separate pieces of paper. By the time Anne-Britt and Nyberg, accompanied by Kurt, returned to the office, the entire table was covered, and Magnus was stood on a chair staring down at it with an intense frown on his face. 

“Magnus?” They stepped up to the table, studied it. “What’s all this?” Kurt inquired, glancing over the photographs of the victims, of Olivia, and of Davin and his brother Isak. 

“A visual aid.” Magnus replied, not taking his eyes off the table. “Erika and Anna were murdered by the same hand, and quite possibly for the same reason. Olivia is in the centre of it, though what part she plays is difficult to tell at this stage.” He gestured to the photos of Davin and Isak. “Davin was a possible suspect, but he has an alibi for Erika’s murder and I have doubts about his involvement with Anna’s. He does, however, have a brother, Isak, who he witnessed arguing with Olivia a couple of days before Anna was killed.” 

“They’re very similar in the face.” Anne-Britt observed. 

“Apparently they get confused for twins on a regular basis.” Magnus agreed. “After speaking with Olivia and Erika’s brother, Stefan, I learnt that Erika was out all night at André’s, and that she and Olivia parted ways aroundmidnight. Olivia took a taxi home, didn’t say how Erika intended to get home. My guess is, she walked.” He gestured to a section of the table that had a route marked out on a map of the town. “I worked out the most likely route she would have taken had she decided to walk. From André’s to the street she was found in, it would have taken her almost an hour on foot, give or take a few minutes depending on average walking speed. That brings us to one in the morning. Given that she was killed fifteen minutes later, I’ve come to the conclusion that her killer followed her, and simply waited for the opportune moment.” He pointed at a note leading off from Erika’s photo. “She sent a text to her brother at around one, telling him she needed to talk to him, and might need his help. Given the situation I can only assume that whatever she wanted to talk to him about had something to do with why she was killed. There’s a plot here, a motive we’ve yet to uncover. It’s no coincidence that they were both in Olivia’s company before they were killed.” 

“Magnus… is Olivia a suspect?” Anne-Britt spoke carefully, as if afraid of his reaction. 

“Possibly.” He shrugged. “I’m not ruling it out as of this moment.” Kurt slowly took a few paces back, and quietly sat down, observing from a distance. He’d never seen Magnus take control over a case like this since the Tostensson case. “Normally I’d say it was unlikely for someone of her size to pull off such an attack, but not only is she deceptively strong, but she has a vicious temper, too.” He rolled his eyes very subtly. “Inherited that from our father.” He added in a quiet mutter. 

“What about Davin, and his brother?” 

“I’m yet to verify the alibi but my instinct tells me Davin isn’t involved. His brother has been known to sometimes frequent Dynamic, and Davin admits to leaving his baseball gear in the back room while he works. Easy enough for someone to lift the bat, and replace it, especially given the times Davin worked for both murders. If the bat is the murder weapon, he wouldn’t have even known it was missing.” 

“The killer probably cleaned it then.” Nyberg commented. “Still likely to get traces of DNA from it if he’s inexperienced. Blood isn’t easy to get rid of completely, not in a short space of time.” 

“I can ask Davin to bring his baseball gear in. I have a feeling he’ll agree – if not we’re going to need to find substantial evidence to get a warrant.” He stepped down from the chair. “Anne-Britt, can you get me any information on Isak? I haven’t run him through the system yet. Find out where he works, where he lives, and if he has any prior convictions. Nyberg – do you have anything from Erika’s bag?” 

“Same as Anna’s, I’m afraid. An unknown set of prints that don’t match anything in the system. If they belong to the killer, he’s had no previous convictions.” Nyberg shook his head slightly. “I checked for fibres, any hair or DNA, but anything I found belonged to the victim. Same with her clothes. There’s nothing, Magnus.” 

“There’s always something.” 

“Magnus…” Anne-Britt rose from behind her computer, and handed him freshly-printed sheets. “Isak works at a convenience store in the centre of town. With Erika.” 

“What?” He took the sheets, and studied the information. “Another connection.” 

“Maybe we’re looking at this too literally.” Nyberg put in. “Isak is an obvious choice for a suspect, but that doesn’t mean he’s the one we want. The only evidence we have is a rough description of a tall skinny man with long hair, and that he has a brother who works at Dynamic and plays baseball. Aren’t we jumping to conclusions?” 

“This isn’t a clever case, Nyberg. This is impulsive, angry – almost like revenge. Whoever is killing these girls isn’t trying to throw us off their trail, isn’t trying to keep us guessing. They’re just getting lucky.” He checked the papers again, found Isak’s current address. “He’s listed as sharing a flat with his brother. I’ll drop by, see if he’s in, and ask him some questions. I’ll go under the guise of asking if Erika had any problems at work.” 

“Magnus.” Kurt stepped in now. “What about Olivia?” 

“She was hiding something when I interviewed her. She wouldn’t tell me what she was discussing with Erika last night, and she closed off completely and covered it up with a lie. I may not have seen her in a while but I grew up with her – I know when she’s lying.” He dragged a hand through his hair – and stopped as he remembered how she had done the same thing earlier. Irritated, he pulled his hand away sharply and scowled at the table. “Whatever it was, Erika wanted her brother’s help, and it got her killed.” 

“I’ll put a plainclothes officer on Olivia, keep track of her whereabouts, whilst you track down Isak.” 

“No.” Magnus shook his head. “She’s a cop’s daughter, Kurt, and a cop’s sister. She’ll make him straight away. Leave her for now – she won’t go anywhere.” 

“Okay – Anne-Britt, you check Davin’s alibi. Nyberg, I want you to comb through every scrap of clothing from both girls, check everything over six times if you have to. There has to be something of the killer on one of them. Magnus, you take Isak. I’ve got to deal with the press.” 

— 

Isak Zachrisson did indeed look like a copy of his brother, the only difference being the eye colour – Isak’s were blue instead of Davin’s green – and the fact that whilst Davin had looked small in his oversized shirt, and even  _gentle_ , Isak actually seemed rather intimidating despite his thin frame. 

“Can I help you?” He muttered, obviously not pleased to be disturbed. 

“Magnus Martinsson, Ystad police.” He held up his badge. “I need to ask you a few questions regarding Erika Ronback. You worked with her, yes?” 

“Sure, yeah.” He shrugged, and turned to stride off into the flat, leaving Magnus to follow him and close the door. “What do you want to know?” 

“Was anyone bothering her at work, do you know? Any unwanted attention?” 

“No. I mean, I didn’t really pay that much attention.” Isak shrugged, slumping carelessly into a seat. Magnus studied the place before he sat down – spotted the baseball bat propped up against the wall in one corner. 

“Did she ever mention having problems?” 

“Nah. We didn’t talk much.” Another shrug. Oh yeah, there was something off about him. 

“Okay. Do you know if she was involved in any illegal activities – was she a drug user?” 

“Shouldn’t you be talking to the family about that?” Isak raised an eyebrow. 

“In my experience the family doesn’t always know everything – and if they do, they tend to hide things like that. They don’t want it being public knowledge.” 

“Well, I don’t know but I doubt it. Erika wasn’t like that.” Magnus nodded, pretending to make a note of it in his book. 

“Okay.” He paused. “I spoke to your brother earlier. Simple routine stuff, just asking around for people who might have witnessed anything that can help us find the person behind Erika and Anna Sjogren’s murders, but he mentioned seeing you having an argument with a mutual friend of both girls – Olivia. Can you tell me what that was about? At this stage we’re working every possible angle and it’s known that Olivia has a habit of pissing off the wrong people. Do you know anything about that?” 

“Sure, yeah, I saw Olivia.” Isak shifted now, not so casual anymore. “It wasn’t an argument, really. She just got in my face and I didn’t like it. She jumps down your throat for the slightest things. I can’t even remember what I said to piss her off, but that’s Olivia for you.” He studied Magnus carefully for a moment. “You think she pissed someone off and they’re killing her friends? Who would do that?” 

“I’m still trying to understand how anyone is led to murder. I don’t even want to think about the type of person who kills innocent people to get back at someone.” 

“How do you know the girls were innocent?” As soon as he said it, Magnus could tell he regretted it. “I mean, like you said – Erika could have been involved with drugs or something.” 

“Well, that’s why I’m here, asking questions.” He made a note – Isak was definitely suspicious. “But I think I have everything I need.” 

“Will you be talking to Olivia, too?” The question seemed innocent, but Magnus could hear the slight edge of panic in the tone. 

“Of course. Perhaps she has better knowledge of what might have led to Erika’s murder.” He rose, tucked the notebook away. “Thank you for your time, Isak.” He walked from the room, and had just put a hand on the front door when Isak spoke up from behind him. 

“You’re her brother, aren’t you?” The tone was accusing. “You’re Olivia’s cop brother.” Magnus turned to look at him, and gave him a smile. 

“Thank you for your time.” He repeated, before making his exit. 

— 

He made his way back to headquarters as soon as he was done with Isak, and he went over his notes as he perched on the edge of his desk. He quickly scribbled some more notes on a separate piece of paper, and added it to the ‘visual aid’ still spread out across the big table. Isak was officially a suspect. 

“Davin’s alibi checks out, Magnus.” Anne-Britt told him, walking up to stand beside him. Magnus nodded and made adjustments to the display, putting Davin as a person of interest rather than a suspect. “What did you get from Isak?” 

“He’s definitely a suspicious character. He didn’t deny his argument with Olivia, but he was very casual about it and didn’t reveal too much about what the argument was about. He seemed unfazed by what’s happened to Erika, and though he claims they didn’t interact much at work I have a feeling he’s covering up.” He sighed. “I saw a baseball bat in the flat, probably the same one Davin sometimes keeps at work. If Isak’s our guy, he could pick it up from either location and his brother wouldn’t even know.” 

“If Davin doesn’t agree to hand it over, how are we going to get a warrant for it? We have nothing but guesswork and assumptions to go on here, Magnus. Isak’s only connection to the victims isn’t enough – not even his argument with Olivia, especially since he admitted to having it. I don’t know how we’d justify a search warrant.” 

“I know how.” They both turned to the door, where Nyberg had just entered without them hearing. He held up a sheet of paper, and he wore a pleased smile. “I went back through both bags, and all the clothing the girls were wearing. I knew I’d find nothing more on the bodies, but there was a chance I missed something on their belongings. Turns out, I found myself a hair – with the skin tag attached – on the sleeve of Erika’s jacket. It was well hidden, but I spotted it.” 

“And?” Anne-Britt encouraged, knowing there was more. 

“I ran the DNA through the system – I wasn’t expecting a match, since I expected it to belong to the unknown fingerprints, and although there was no direct match, I found something interesting.” He handed over the paper, and showed them both the results printed clearly upon it. “The DNA has seven alleles in common with one Davin Zachrisson.” 

“What?” Magnus snatched the paper from Anne-Britt’s hands and studied it closely. 

“So that means he’s related to the killer, yes?” Anne-Britt questioned. 

“A parent or sibling, yes.” Nyberg confirmed. “Davin’s in our system for a minor offence of being drunk and disorderly a couple of years ago.” 

“So we can definitely rule him out as a suspect for both murders.” Magnus put the report down on the table. “If he’d killed Anna, we’d have his fingerprints, surely.” 

“Isak and Davin’s parents aren’t in the city. They live further north.” Anne-Britt put in. “So this hair had to have come from Isak.” 

“I’ll call up Davin and ask about the baseball bat. Even with the hair, it’d be difficult to get a warrant – they worked together. Anyone who wanted to get in the way of the warrant could make the argument that the hair was transferred earlier that day, or the last time she wore that jacket to work. Nyberg, if you can find anything on Anna’s belongings that matches that hair, that’ll give us a solid case for a warrant if necessary, but something tells me we won’t need one.” As Magnus turned away, pulling out his phone, Kurt wandered into the office. 

“Do we have any luck?” He asked – and Anne-Britt quickly filled him in whilst Magnus spoke to Davin. “Right. Isak is definitely our main suspect, with a question mark over Olivia.” 

“Have we considered the possibility that they’re working together?” Nyberg put in. “It’s not unheard of for a man and a woman to team up, especially if there might be romantic involvement – they were seen arguing, yes? They could have been arguing over the crime.” 

“That’s a good point.” Kurt nodded, and Anne-Britt made a note to add to the display. 

“Davin’s going to bring the bat in. He sounded incredibly distressed, but he didn’t deny that it was possible for someone to get hold of it without him knowing. I left out the part about the main suspect being his brother.” Magnus said as he disconnected the call. “The less he knows the better, at the moment.” 

“Good.” Kurt gave another nod. “Once we have it, we can find out if it’s our murder weapon – if it is, we can move in on Isak. If not, we’ll have more work on our hands.” 

“In my opinion, I’d say the chance of the baseball bat being the murder weapon is incredibly high. It’s the right size and shape to inflict both wounds, especially with the force of an angry man behind it.” Nyberg added. 

“Great. So, I-,” Magnus broke off as his phone rang, and he stared down at the screen for a moment. The word flashing up read ‘Home’ and he hesitated – his mother was the only one who ever rang from home, but it could just as easily be his father, trying to fool him into answering. 

“Do you need to get that?” Anne-Britt asked, and Magnus sighed. 

“I… yeah, I should, really.” He murmured in defeat, and turned away to answer. “Yes?” 

 _“Magnus… oh thank god, you answered…”_  It was his mother, which was a relief, but she sounded panicked and distressed – which was not. 

“What is it? I’m in the middle of a case…” 

 _“That’s why I called! Your sister, she… I was on my way to visit her, to see how she was holding up after those two poor girls were killed, and I… oh, Magnus, someone_ attacked _her!”_

“What?” Magnus was suddenly serious, and he turned to the team, holding up a single finger to them. “What do you mean she was attacked? Where? And by who?” 

 _“It just happened so fast, I-,”_  

“Okay, you need to calm down.” When she continued to ramble, bordering on hysteria, he sighed. “Mom, please, calm down.” The sound of the word ‘mom’ felt foreign to his ears, but it seemed to do the trick. 

 _“Sorry, sorry…”_ He heard her take a breath.  _“It was outside her apartment. She was just leaving the building when a man jumped out from behind a wall and grabbed her. I couldn’t see him closely, but he was tall, with-,”_

“Dark hair, long, thin frame?” 

_“Yes! How… oh, god, he’s the one, isn’t he? The one killing her friends?! Magnus you have to find him and stop him!”_

“I will. What happened after he grabbed her? Be as specific as you can.” 

_“She struggled – you know how strong she is. I thought she was going to be fine, but then he hit her, and she went really still. He tossed her over his shoulder and ran to a car – a little silver thing – and threw her in the back before driving off. I… I didn’t get the license plates. I’m sorry. I didn’t know who else to call.”_

“It’s okay. You called the right person. Me and the team are on it, right away. Just… just stay at home, okay? We’ll find her, don’t worry.” He hung up, and sighed. “Olivia’s been attacked, and taken away somewhere. Our mother witnessed the attack, and the guy matches Isak’s description.” 

“Right, then we move out. We need to find out where Isak might take her. I’ll get some uniforms to check any cameras in the area, see if we can find out which direction he left in.” Kurt grabbed his jacket, slotting his gun into its holster. 

“He was driving a small silver car – no other details could be given, unfortunately. Tell them to look out for that.” He shook his head. “But I doubt we have much time.” 

“Davin.” Anne-Britt suddenly spoke up. “Davin might know his brother’s regular haunts, where he might take her.” 

“Good thinking, I’ll give him a call.” Magnus quickly dialled the number again. “Davin? It’s Magnus Martinsson, listen I-,” 

 _“Oh, I was just about to call you!”_ Davin interrupted.  _“Look, I can’t find my bat anywhere. I know I left it in the flat, but it’s not here. The rest of my gear is, but the bat’s missing.”_ Shit. Magnus covered the phone and told the team about the missing bat in a whisper. 

“Okay, Davin, I need you to stop and think for a moment. This might be distressing for you to hear, but we believe your brother Isak has abducted Olivia, and that he might have been the killer behind Anna and Erika’s murders.” He heard Davin’s breath catch, but he didn’t dare stop in case Davin attempted to argue against it. They simply didn’t have the time. “I need to know where your brother would go – it’d be somewhere private, somewhere quiet and where no one else would disturb him. Does he have anywhere like that? Think hard, and fast.” 

 _“I… I don’t know…”_ Davin stammered, clearly overwhelmed.  _“Wait… wait, hang on. The first girl – Anna – she died on the beach, right? Well… ages ago Isak and I found this old abandoned hut on that stretch of beach. He might be there.”_

“Thanks, Davin.” Without another word, Magnus hung up. “The beach where Anna was found – there’s an abandoned hut. Apparently Isak and Davin discovered it, and he thinks there’s a chance Isak will be there.” 

“And what if he isn’t?” Anne-Britt questioned.

“Then we’ll have to look somewhere else. Come on, we’re running out of time. He might decide to finish off Olivia as quickly as the others, even if his MO has altered slightly.” He checked his gun, grabbed his coat, and nodded to Kurt. “Let’s go.” 

— 

The second they pulled up by the beach, Magnus leapt out of the car and began striding down onto the sand. Kurt and Anne-Britt followed him, guns drawn, ready. 

“Okay. I made some calls – the hut is marked down as being not far from this particular stretch of beach. Go to the right of Anna’s crime scene, Magnus.” Anne-Britt told him, pointing off in the right direction. 

“Be careful.” Kurt told them. “We know there’s a strong possibility that Isak is armed, and certainly dangerous.” He paused, glanced at Magnus. “Are you going to be okay?” Magnus knew from the looks both of them were giving him that they were thinking back to the last case where he’d had personal involvement. 

“I’ll be fine.” When they looked uncertain, he sighed. “This is different. It’s my sister in there, yes, but she’s no better than a complete stranger. I’ll be fine.” Before they could question him further, he began making his way up the beach, and they had no choice but to follow. 

The hut came into view a few minutes later, peaking out from behind some high dunes. There was silence all around, barely a bird call sounding in the air around them, and for a moment Magnus wondered if it was the wrong hut, or if Isak wasn’t there after all – but then a woman’s shriek pierced the air and his feet took control of his body, and he was bolting towards the hut without hesitation. For all his claims that she was no longer his sister, he still had that natural instinct to protect her. 

He didn’t wait for Kurt or Anne-Britt to catch up before he kicked open the door, letting it slam against the wall behind it, his gun raised and ready to fire. His eyes found Olivia, her hands bound behind her, and her ankles also roughly bound, sat against the far wall. Blood trickled from her mouth and from a nasty wound on her temple, and there was some bruising showing on her pale skin already, but she was mostly unharmed and alive, at least. 

“Magnus…” She whimpered. 

“Where’s Isak, Olivia? Where is he?” He asked quietly, and calmly. He heard Kurt and Anne-Britt come up behind him, and he stepped further into the hut so they could enter, too. 

“I’m right here.” In unison, the three cops raised their guns to the door against one wall. Isak stepped through into the room, Davin’s baseball bat clutched tightly in one hand. “Are you going to shoot me?” 

“That depends.” Magnus spat out, just as Kurt said, 

“Put down the bat.” Isak made no move to do so, instead walking over to where Olivia sat. His free hand twisted into her hair – and Magnus noticed for the first time that chunks of it had been cut roughly, the locks scattered about on the floor. 

“It was easier the second time. I was just… so angry..” Isak murmured. “I was going to kill her the same way. Nice and quick, but… but she doesn’t deserve that. She deserves the pain.” He laughed softly. “Bitch tried to blackmail me, y’know?” 

“Isak, you need to put down the bat and step away from Olivia, do you hear me?” Kurt said firmly, gun trained on Isak. 

“She knew I’d killed Anna. She confronted me, yelled at me, threatened to go to the police if I didn’t help her. You know what she wanted from me, Magnus?” He turned to look at him now, a strange smile on his face. 

“No, don’t listen to him Magnus, he’s lying-,” Olivia cut off with another shriek as he yanked on her hair. 

“She wanted me to fuck up your boyfriend.” Isak laughed. “She told me if I played along and beat up Jensen, she wouldn’t tell the police anything.” Magnus’ eyes went cold as he glanced at Olivia. “If you don’t believe me-,” 

“I believe you.” Magnus broke in. “She’s a cold-hearted bitch. Isn’t that right, Isak? Cold, and spiteful, and downright cheeky, huh? I mean… fancy her trying to blackmail you like that!” 

“I know!” Isak hissed. “She thought she could control me!” Magnus slowly lowered his gun, and ignored the looks Kurt and Anne-Britt were sending his way. 

“No one could ever control you. She was stupid to think so, wasn’t she?” He took a step towards Isak, who tensed and lifted the bat slightly. “It’s okay, Isak. I’m not going to shoot you.” He slowly lowered the gun to the floor now, and held up his hands. “I understand you. I do. These girls angered you, didn’t they?” 

“Yeah. Yeah they did!” Isak scowled. “It was just a bit of cash from the till, y’know? I was gonna pay it back! I just needed the money. But that bitch Erika had to come in with her stupid friends and see me.” 

“She did it on purpose, didn’t she? She was just waiting to find something to screw you over with, wasn’t she?” He took another step forward, and noted that Isak didn’t tense this time. Behind him, Kurt and Anne-Britt shared a look, and understood – they knew what Magnus was doing. 

“Yeah! Shit, you do get me, man…” Isak shook his head with a laugh. “You know, when you turned up at my door I thought you were just another bitch cop, but you’re alright. Nothing like your sister.” He gave Olivia a kick. “They said they were gonna go to the police. I told them not to, that it was just some cash and I was gonna pay it back. They agreed not to, and I thought that’d be it. But those bitches lied!” 

“They always do, Isak. Isn’t that the usual?” Magnus gave him a laugh, shrugging casually, as he took another step forward. 

“Yeah, yeah, exactly! All they do is lie! So Olivia came to me and said she and the girls were going to the police. Well, I had to stop it, didn’t I! That bitch Anna was first. I was gonna bring her here, out of the way, but she started running so I had to just take her out, y’know? She deserved it.” 

“Of course. I bet she was asking for it.” Two more steps closer. 

“You bet she was. Then when Olivia tried to blackmail me, I knew I had to take her out, too. It’s almost fucking impossible to get your sister on her own, y’know? So I knew I had to kill Erika, get her out of the way. It was so easy. She didn’t even know it was coming.” 

“Oh yeah, I bet not. They’re just stupid, after all, right?” One more step. Almost there. 

“Damn right. And then this bitch… I waited, y’know. I was gonna wait for tonight, or something, but then when you showed up I knew I couldn’t wait. I thought you were gonna put cops on her or something, but you didn’t.” 

“Didn’t care enough to.” Magnus shrugged. Another step. 

“You’re a good bloke.” Isak laughed. “I’ve gotta kill her, man. I’ve gotta. I mean, she’s evil, I swear. Gotta get rid of the evil, right? Hey – maybe you could help! I know you hate her, and I mean she was trying to get your guy fucked up. Wanna take a swing at her?” Magnus smirked – was this guy really that stupid? No. Not stupid. He was far too absorbed in his own little world to see anything beyond it.

“Sure, why the hell not?” He took the final steps forward, reached for the bat, and swung it up – it cracked Isak in the jaw, knocking him to the ground, and he hit his head hard on the floorboards with a sickening crack, and lay still. Instantly, Kurt rushed forward, gun trained on Isak, and bent to check him. 

“Still alive, but I don’t think we have anything to worry about for now.” He sheathed his weapon, and rolled Isak over to cuff him. Anne-Britt called for an ambulance, and took the bat from Magnus as he knelt beside Olivia to untie her hands, and her unbind her ankles. 

“Magnus…” She began. 

“Don’t.” He cut in sharply. “Just… don’t.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This last chapter is shorter than the others because it's just rounding off the story. I was going to include this in chapter 5 originally, but I felt I needed a separate chapter for the Olivia/Magnus confrontation. Thank you all for sticking with this story! [There will be a sequel in the future, so look out for it~]

Magnus stood in the car park of the hospital Olivia had been taken to for medical treatment – the head wound was more serious than it had looked and the doctors had ordered her to stay overnight, as far as he knew. His afternoon had been spent going over what had happened as a report was written up, and then getting a confession out of Isak once he stirred. He’d been pissed, and Magnus had remained out of the way, simply watching the interview behind the one-way mirror, listening to Isak detail why he’d killed Anna and Erika, and why he had tried to do the same with Olivia. 

As he had said in the hut, Erika, Anna and Olivia had witnessed him stealing from work, and though at first they had agreed not to report it, believing that he’d be paying it back, Olivia had pushed them to agree to reporting it very soon after. When Olivia had confronted him, telling them of their plans, Isak decided he needed to silence the girls, and two days later, Anna was dead. He told them how he had spotted the girls in Dynamic, and seized the opportunity. He grabbed his brother’s baseball bat, and followed her as she walked home. He’d approached her under the guise of confessing his sins and asking for her help, and she’d believed him, and began walking with him away from her own home. When he let it slip that he was going to hurt her, she had started running, and he’d taken her down and beaten her to death with the bat. 

Olivia confronted him, telling him she knew he was behind her death. She’d tried to blackmail him – she wouldn’t go to the police if he did her a favour, and attacked Jensen Hakansson. He’d laughed, and walked away, planning on how to silence Olivia because he wouldn’t be controlled like that. After realizing he’d have to silence Erika first, he had followed her from work with Davin’s baseball bat in hand, and followed her until he found a good moment to kill her. Then he plotted to kill Olivia the next night, but his plans changed when Magnus dropped by, and he realised he couldn’t wait. 

The rest of the story they knew, and Magnus had left in disgust. Back in the Homicide office, Kurt had told him he’d done well to distract Isak, and set off to discuss the case with Lisa before they faced the press. He’d given Magnus the rest of the day off, and told him to go home, or visit his sister. Whilst Magnus had fully intended to just go home, he realised he had questions that needed answering – and so here he was, working up the courage to go inside and confront the woman he’d once called his little sister. 

It was easy enough to find her room when he finally entered the building, and he stood in the doorway for a moment before stepping into the room, and closing the door quietly. She appeared to be sleeping, her head wrapped partially in a bandage, bronze hair spilling over it and spread across her pillow. He couldn’t help but notice that the shorter sections, where Isak had obviously cut chunks out of her hair, had begun to curl in much the same way as his own hair did – a sickening reminder that she was his blood, his family. He cleared his throat awkwardly, and she seemed to stir – not sleeping that deeply then. When she opened her eyes, she gasped softly and sat up slowly. 

“Magnus… I didn’t expect you to be here.” She told him honestly. 

“I wasn’t going to come.” He admitted, sinking down into the visitor’s chair. “But I have answers I need to find.” 

“Look, about what Isak said-,” 

“If you’re going to try and deny it, or explain it away, save your breath. Isak told the full story earlier, and I don’t want to hear it.” He cut in sharply. “You withheld information from the police in a murder investigation, confronted the killer yourself with intent to blackmail, and tried to set him up to attack another innocent person for no reason other than his romantic connection to your estranged brother. You’re lucky we haven’t arrested you, too – and we still bloody might.” He growled. 

“I’m not going to make excuses. I just… wanted to hurt you.” She admitted. “But I’m not lying when I say I’m sorry, and… I’m sorry.” 

“I don’t care if you’re sorry. I don’t care if you regret what you did, or if you’d go back and change it if you could. I don’t give a single fuck about how you feel right now, Olivia Annika Martinsson.” He hissed – and was inwardly smug about the flinch he received from including her hated middle name. She’d tried for years to hide it, never mentioning it to anyone unless absolutely necessary, and as a boy he’d helped her to conceal it even though he hadn’t understood the reason why, but now it was so satisfactory to have something to throw in her face. “Because of your selfish desires, an innocent young woman was killed. If you had told us the truth at the beginning, we might have stopped Isak before he killed again. Erika was your friend, Olivia. Erika has been your friend since school, and you could have stopped her from being murdered.” 

“I didn’t think he’d-,” 

“Don’t give me that bullshit. You knew he’d go after her. You knew he’d come for you, too. Is that why you went to him first? Trying to save your own ass? Did you even think about anyone else for even a second? Did you think about Erika? About Stefan? I had to tell him his sister is dead, Olivia!” 

“What do you want me to say, Magnus?!” 

“I don’t want you to say anything!” He slumped forward, covering his face with his hands as the anger left him rather suddenly. There was silence for a long time, and then Olivia spoke. 

“Do you remember what you said to me, the last time we spoke? You said how you always tried to protect me, even if there was nothing to protect me from. And you were right – you did protect me. No, I was never on the wrong end of dad’s anger, I never had to worry about pissing him off or doing something he didn’t like. I never had to deal with his disappointment, or his disapproval. He was never abusive to me – verbally or physically. I didn’t have to deal with the shit you did.” 

“Is there a point to this, Olivia?” He sighed, not looking up. 

“Oh for once in your life Magnus, shut up.” She gave a sigh of frustration. “You were always there for me. You protected me every day of your life, no matter what. You put yourself between me and whatever threat there was, regardless of your own safety, your own wellbeing.” She sighed again. “And today, after all the shit I’ve done to you, after everything I said to you, even after Isak told you that I- … you still protected me. You still put yourself between me and the threat.” He lifted his head now, and was surprised to find her smiling. “It’s sad that it’s taken me this long, and a threat on my life, to realise what an incredible brother I have.” 

“Don’t, Olivia.” He stood up, turned away from her, dragging a hand through his hair. 

“You’re frustrated.” She smiled. “You always do that when you’re frustrated, or embarrassed.” He turned back to her, frowning slightly. “What? You think I don’t notice your little habits and quirks? I grew up with you, Magnus. In fact, there was a time when I grew up idolising you. You were my big brother, and so you were my hero. The dashing prince who would face dragons and monsters to rescue the damsel in distress. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten all the times we used to play together? You’d tie a blanket around your neck and wield a stick and I’d climb a tree and call out for a hero to save me, and you’d battle invisible monsters to get to me…” 

“Of course I remember.” He sighed, shaking his head. “But that was a long time ago, Olivia. That was before I stopped being the perfect son our father wanted. Before I no longer felt wanted in the family. Things are different now.” He paced, fighting the urge to run a hand through his hair again. “I severed all contact with you, with our parents. I would have been happy if I never saw any of you again. I don’t know what you’re doing now, Olivia, but if you think you can work your way back into my life after an isolated incident that brought us together, then think again. As soon as this case his closed, that’s it. It’s back to never speaking to you, or mom, or father, ever again.” 

“Do you really think you can do that, Magnus? We’re your family!” 

“No.” Magnus turned to her now, eyes cold once more. “Family sticks with you, regardless of your life choices. Family doesn’t disown you. Family doesn’t stand by and watch you fall apart.” He shook his head again. “You all stopped being family the day I said I didn’t want to be a cop.” 

“And yet here you are – a pretty damn good cop.” They both turned at the deep voice behind Magnus, and he smiled faintly when Jensen put a hand on his shoulder. “Kurt called me, said you’d be here.” He added quietly. 

“So you’re Jensen, I take it?” Olivia murmured from the bed, and Jensen turned sharp, cold eyes to her. 

“Yes. I’m Magnus’ boyfriend.” He said firmly, his arm snaking around Magnus’ waist. “Are you done here, or do you need a few minutes?” 

“I… I think I’m done.” He leant into him slightly, glad to have him there. “I’ve said what I want to say.” 

“Magnus, are you really going to walk out on us?” Olivia sighed. He gave a slight laugh. 

“I did it before just fine. I’m sure I can manage again.” He turned, stepping out of the room. “The only contact I’ll have with you after this moment will be if we decide to arrest you after all. Goodbye, Olivia.” Jensen stepped out beside Magnus, stroking a hand down his spine to rest on his lower back, and knowing Olivia was still watching, he leant in to kiss him very quickly. 

“Come on, babe. Let’s get you out of here.” He led him down the hall and out of the hospital, keeping his hand on his back in a comforting yet possessive gesture, and to his surprise Magnus didn’t seem to mind. “Are you okay?” 

“Yes, I’m okay. I’m… I’m fine.” He gave Jensen a smile – though it faded the second he saw the two people walking straight towards them across the car park. “Oh, shit. I do not fucking need this…” He sighed. 

“What?” Jensen frowned, then followed his line of sight – Markus Martinsson was heading straight for them, a small, timid-looking woman at his side. “Hey, trust me. It’ll be okay.” He smiled, pulling him close again. It didn’t take too long for their paths to cross, and Markus stopped in front of them, studying them both for a moment. 

“Magnus.” He muttered, his gaze quickly flicking over to Jensen, and he gave a slight nod. “Jensen.” And then he did something Magnus did not expect – he stepped around them, and continued walking. Stunned, Magnus blinked several times before he realised Lili-Ann was still stood in front of them. 

“Thank you, Magnus.” She smiled, stepping forward, her arms outstretched as if she wanted to hug him, but then she hesitated, and her arms dropped back to her sides. “Thank you.” 

“Just doing my job.” He shrugged, feeling awkward. Lili-Ann shook her head with a smile, and then turned to Jensen. 

“And you’re Jensen.” She smiled brightly at him, as brightly as Magnus had ever seen her smile. “Can you do something for me, Jensen? Can you do the one thing that I could never do?” When Jensen frowned slightly, confused, she put a hand on Magnus’ chest, and gave him a heartbreakingly sad smile. “Look after my little boy.” And as those words sank in, she followed her husband’s lead and stepped around him, walking off towards the hospital doors. Magnus turned to watch her go, his chest feeling warm where her hand had been, and for the first time since he had walked out, Magnus actually missed his family. 

“Do you want to go back?” Jensen asked softly, his hand now resting on Magnus’ hip as he pressed a kiss to his bronze curls. Magnus waited a moment, and he sighed softly, forcing himself to turn away again. 

“No…” He murmured quietly. “Just… take me home.” Jensen smiled and began leading him towards Magnus’ car. 

“Speaking of home…” He began casually. “I mean… we pretty much live together already…” Magnus stopped and stared at him, surprise in his stormy eyes. 

“Are you asking me to move in with you?” Jensen gave a soft laugh. 

“Ever the sharp detective, Magnus.”


End file.
